Mission Santa Clara

The bronze lists the largest Indian population of any California mission among the mission's distinctions. The people were Ohlone, from Thámien, the village where the university now stands, and from its neighbors; the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe traces its ancestry through this mission. The same count lies under the campus: the university says 7,612 Indigenous people who died at Mission Santa Clara are buried in two cemeteries beneath it. In 2023 its de Saisset Museum added a digital memorial with their names and interviews with Muwekma Ohlone people.

What the plaque says

Mission Santa Clara Founded 1777 Erected on this site 1822 Restored 1928 Mission Santa Clara Santa Clara, the first California mission to honor a woman, Clare of Assisi, as its patron saint, was founded nearby on the Guadalupe River on January 12, 1777. It once had the largest Indian population of any California mission. Floods and earthquake led to successive relocations. Its fifth church was dedicated on this site in 1825. In 1851 Santa Clara College was established in the old mission buildings. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 338 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with William L. Gates, Class of '64, and E Clampus Vitus, Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850, January 12, 1980.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Santa Clara Women's Club Adobe — steps away
• Charles Copeland Morse Residence — 0.3 mi
• Santa Clara Campaign Treaty Site — 0.7 mi
• Old Sites of Mission Santa Clara de Asis and Old Spanish Bridge — 1.2 mi