Santa Ysabel Asistencia facts for kids
The Church of Saint John the Baptist, erected on the site of the original Santa Ysabel Asistencia in 1924.
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 Location in California
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| Location | Santa Ysabel, California |
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| Coordinates | 33°7′49″N 116°40′41″W / 33.13028°N 116.67806°W |
| Name as founded | Asistencia de la Misión San Diego de Alcalá |
| English translation | Sub-Mission of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá |
| Patron | Saint Elizabeth (Isabel), Queen of Portugal |
| Nickname(s) | "Church of the Desert" |
| Founding date | September 20, 1818 |
| Founding priest(s) | Father Fernando Martín |
| Military district | First |
| Native tribe(s) Spanish name(s) |
Kumeyaay (Ipai), Payomkowishum Diegueño, Luiseño |
| Native place name(s) | Elcuanan |
| Governing body | Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego |
| Current use | Chapel / Museum |
| Reference no. | #369 |
The Santa Ysabel Asistencia was a special "sub-mission" founded on September 20, 1818. It was located in the mountains east of San Diego, near a village called Elcuanan. This place was like a rest stop for travelers going between San Diego and Sonora. It was connected to the main Mission San Diego de Alcalá. About 450 native people, including the Luiseño and Diegueño tribes, lived there. Many people at Santa Ysabel became Christians, more than at other California missions. Because it was so far away, priests did not visit it often after the missions were taken over by the Mexican government in the 1830s.
Contents
History of Santa Ysabel Asistencia
Building the Mission (1769–1833)
The area where Santa Ysabel Asistencia stands was first visited by Father Juan Mariner in 1795. In 1816, the mission fathers in San Diego asked the Spanish Governor for permission to build this sub-mission. Father Martin led the first church service there in September 1818.
By 1821, they had built a chapel, a place to store grain, several adobe (mud-brick) houses, and a cemetery. In September of that same year, Father Mariano Payeras, who was in charge of the California Missions, visited Santa Ysabel. He had a big plan to create a whole chain of missions inland, with Santa Ysabel as the main one. However, this plan never happened.
Life After Missions (1834–1849)
In 1834, the missions were no longer controlled by the church. This change is called "secularization." In 1844, Jose Joaquin Ortega and Edward Stokes were given the land grant for Rancho Santa Ysabel.
A wagon road from San Diego to Warner's Ranch passed through this area. In 1846, General Stephen W. Kearny and his "Army of the West" camped at the rancho. They were on their way to the Battle of San Pasqual.
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of the famous Native American guide Sacagawea, also camped at the Mission in 1847. He had guided the Mormon Battalion from New Mexico to San Diego. In 1849, a U.S. Army officer named A.W. Whipple visited the site. He wrote that the Mission was "in ruins," meaning it was falling apart.
California Becomes a State (1850–1900)
By 1850, the roof of the chapel had caved in. People put up simple shelters against one wall so that church services could still happen. John Russell Bartlett, a traveler, saw the Mission in 1852. He said it was just a church without a roof and a few small huts. Sadly, nothing remains of the original buildings today because they were not taken care of over the years.
By 1857, American settlers were living there. The site also became a stop for stagecoaches traveling between San Diego and Carrizo Creek. This stagecoach line ran through San Ysabel until 1860. In 1898, the Santa Ysabel Indian Reservation was created.
Modern Times (1901 – present)
In the early 1900s, three acres of the original Mission land were given back to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1903, Father Joseph Exalaphat Lapointe, a missionary from Canada, came to Santa Ysabel to work with the local people.
On September 14, 1924, the first stone was laid for a new chapel. This new chapel was built in the Mission Revival Style, which looks like the old missions. It was built right where the old adobe chapel used to be. Father LaPointe passed away in 1932 and was buried next to the chapel.
The Mystery of the Lost Bells
Bells were very important for daily life at any mission. They were rung for mealtimes, to call people to work or church, during births and funerals, and to announce visitors. New priests learned all the special ways to ring the mission bells.
In 1846, two bells were bought from another mission in Mexico. These bells were very old, made in 1723 and 1767. Their names were "N.S. De Loreto" and "San Pedro." After the Santa Ysabel Mission started to fall apart in the 1830s, the bells were hung on a wooden frame.
Then, one summer night in 1926, the bells disappeared! It seemed they were stolen. The next day, a local man named Jose Maria Osuna found the clappers (the parts that hit the bell to make sound). He kept them safe. After Osuna died, the clappers were passed down through his family. Finally, in 1959, they were returned to the Mission.
In 1966, a small piece of one of the bells was found. But how and where it was found has never been fully explained.
In 1993, a local metal worker named Ed Schwaesdall and his son John made a new bell. It was made mostly of brass and copper. They gave it to the Mission to celebrate its 175th anniversary. In 2012, another piece of one of the original bells was found. This happened after an old story about the bells was discovered in a recorded interview.
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