Mission San José

The bronze gives the orchestra to the Ohlone, and the mission's own registers say otherwise. Of the 6,427 people baptized here up to 1845, the anthropologist Randall Milliken counted 1,316 who spoke an Ohlone language; more were Plains Miwok, from the delta, and 1,463 were Yokuts. One Lakisamni Yokuts man, Cucunuchi, baptized Estanislao, rose to alcalde and in 1828 led hundreds back to the river now named for him. Durán wrote that everything depended on taking him dead or alive, then won him a pardon in 1829. He died here in 1838.

What the plaque says

La Mision del Gloriosísimo Patriarca Señor San Jose Founded June 11, 1797 Fray Fermin Francisco de Lasuen Rededicated June 11, 1985 Most Reverend John S. Cummins Bishop of Oakland Reverend Michael P. Norkett Pastor Mission San José At the Ohlone Indian village of Oroysom, Padre Fermín Francisco de Lasuén founded this fourteenth of twenty-one Franciscan missions June 11, 1797. Taught by Padre Narciso Durán, the Ohlone orchestra and choir became famous. By 1830 almost 2,000 Indians were living at the mission. The mission was secularized in 1836 and its lands divided into ranchos. During the Gold Rush, a store in the west wing outfitted miners. The 1868 earthquake destroyed the adobe church and most other mission buildings. The church was rebuilt in 1985. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 334 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Grand Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West, June 8, 2003.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Leland Stanford Winery — 2.1 mi
• Vallejo Flour Mill — 4.2 mi
• Francisco Solano Alviso Adobe — 8.7 mi
• Ukraina — 8.8 mi