Visions of California

The following is a short and early version of an excerpt from my book detailing  Saint Junípero Serra's time in Orange County and Mission San Juan Capistrano. Serra’s Third Time in Orange County – The Founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano – c. October 26 - December 5, 1776         Serra departed from San Diego on October 25th with Corporal Nicolás Beltrán, ten leather-jacket soldiers, some Baja California Indians, and Father Gregorio Amurrió to reestablish Mission San Juan Capistrano. When they arrived a couple of days later, they found the cross still standing from the year before. Father Amurrió pointed out the spot where the bells had been buried and Beltrán ordered the soldiers to dig them up. After they were hung on a makeshift wooden stand or in the branches of an oak, the bells were rung by the missionaries, echoing through the California hills of San Juan Canyon far into the distance. In the memories of the event left behind by the missionaries, “at the peal of [the be