Continuing on the route from Monterey
County, stay on San Juan Grade Rd. until it intersects San Juan
Canyon Road/San Juan Highway. Turn left onto San Juan Highway and
cross CA 156 into San Juan Bautista. Stop at the Chamber
of Commerce at 410 Third St. if you would like directions to
3 miles of hiking trail on Anza's historic route off San Juan Canyon
Rd. on Old Stage Road. Also visit the Mission
and the San
Juan Bautista State Historic Park. To continue your journey,
take San Juan Highway to US 101 north. Exit at 152 West to Watsonville
Rd. to visit Chitactac
- Adams Heritage County Park near Gilroy. To continue along
the this route, see the Santa
Clara County section of the Trail Guide.
Hiking/Biking Ideas
Biking is a good way to see the small town of San
Juan Bautista. Fremont
(Gabilan) Peak State Park is found along San Juan Canyon
Rd., to the southeast. The peak overlooks the Anza trail and the sea.
An uphill hike with breathtaking views of the countryside is found
on Old Stage Road via a trailhead near the intersection of San Juan
Canyon and San Juan Grade Roads.
The plaque at the Mission, placed
there during the 1976 Anza reenactment.
Photo: Greg Smestad
Diary
of Pedro Font, March 24, 1776,
"...We set out from La Natividad at a quarter to eight in
the morning, and at a quarter past four in the afternoon halted
at the Arroyo de las Llagas [Llagas Creek]… First we
went two leagues [five miles] northeast and somewhat east
until we reached the top of the sierra, in order to descend
to the arroyo of San Benito, near which among some rocks there
is a fairly large cave with a partition, or divided into two
compartments and very suitable for hermit life; then one league
north, and two northeast with some deviation to the north,
going through the valley of San Pasqual [San Benito] until
we crossed the Pájaro [bird] River."
About
Your Visit to San Benito County
After delivering the colonists to the presidio of Monterey,
Anza rested and then set out on March
23, 1776 with Lieutenant Joaquin Moraga, Father Pedro
Font, a corporal and two soldiers from the Monterey Presidio
and eight of his soldiers to explore the San Francisco Bay
area. Camping their first night at Natividad (in Salinas),
they continued the next day through the future site of Mission
San Juan Bautista.
B.Mission
San Juan Bautista
Built in 1797, after the expedition passed through the area,
the mission (located at Second and Mariposa Streets; coordinates
36º 50' 45" N, 121º 32' 03" W) is in the traditional Amah-Mutsun
territory. The Mission features a museum, garden and working
parish. To learn more about the Mutsun, visit Chitactac
- Adams Heritage County Park in Santa Clara County (101
North to 152 to Watsonville Rd.).
C.San
Juan Bautista State Historic Park
San Juan Bautista was once the largest town in central California
and the hub of travel between Monterey and San José.
José Tibúrcio Castro was the civil and secular
administrator of the Mission. The Castro House was built between
1838-41 at the request of his son, José Antonio, who
had become prefect of the northern district of Alta
California. The town was temporarily known as San Juan de
Castro. General José Antonio Castro's military headquarters
can be viewed at the State Park. Neither General José Antonio
Castro nor José Tibúrcio Castro descend from Joaquín Isidro
de Castro's family who came with Anza.
The natural beauty of the San Juan
Bautista Area is little changed since Font described it.
Photo: Greg Smestad
Learning
On The Trail in San Benito County
Questions on the Trail
North of San Juan Bautista is Chitactac-Adams
Heritage County Park (via 101 North and Hwy 152
to Watsonville Rd.), where visitors can see a Costanoan
village site, similar to one the expedition passed.
There, one can learn about the Mutsun, one of the tribes
later brought to Mission
San Juan Bautista.
Question: What did Anza's name in Mutsun mean?
Question: When Anza was given a fish, what word in Mutsun
was likely heard?
The Mutsun people populated the Pájaro River
Basin, and lands that stretched from southern Santa Clara
County to southern San Benito, and northern Monterey Counties,
and from western Merced County to the coast.
Hear these words spoken on the audio track:
English
Mutsun
Fish (singular)
huuyi
Fish (plural)
huuyikma
To fish (verb)
huyni
Salmon
huraka
Beads
maas
Mutsun has no word for 'hello,' but greetings are:
How are you?
hinkahte-m
Good morning
miSmin aruh'a
Good day
miSmin Tuuhis
Mother
aana
My mother
ansa
Water
sii
Mutsun has no word for 'thank you,' but ' I am pleased'
is roughly:
Tumsan-ak kannis
Mutsun has no word for 'Good bye,' but 'Go well'
is:
wattini miSmin
Play MP3 file of The
Mutsun narrated by Quirina Luna-Costillas
(playing time 1 minute 25 seconds)
On the CD: The Mutsun
Camp #104 was near Cañada Rd. in Santa Clara
County at the confluence of Coyote Creek and Cañada
de los Osos. It was near here that they were greeted
again by Native Americans. Font's Diary of April
7, 1776, Easter Sunday, states, "...When we finished
our descent, some ten or twelve Indians came out on
the road to salute us, from a village which was near
there on the banks of a lagoon. They gave us amole and
two fish from the lagoon…In return for them, the commander
gave the Indians some glass beads..." This group was
likely from the Mutsun tribe and it was these peoples
who were later taken to the nearby Mission San Juan
Bautista. There, Father Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta learned,
and wrote down, the Mutsun language.
Mutsun is one of several Ohlone/Costanoan dialects that
were spoken along California's central coast region.
Only recently has this language been resurrected through
Father de la Cuesta's notes and the hard work of descendants
determined to teach it to a new generation. Today, many
descendants continue to learn, teach, and practice Mutsun
traditional ways.
Additional Resources
San Juan Bautista Chamber of Commerce - P.O.
Box 1037, San Juan Bautista, CA 95045;
tel.: 831-623-2454,
web: sjbchamber.com
Mission San Juan Bautista - 2nd and Mariposa
St., P.O. Box 400, San Juan Bautista, CA 95045;
tel.: 831-623-2127,
web: oldmissionsjb.org
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park - 2nd
and Franklin St., San Juan Bautista, CA, 95045;
tel.: 831-623-4526,
web: parks.ca.gov
Chitactac-Adams Heritage County Park (Watsonville
Rd.) - Santa Clara County Parks, 298 Garden Hill Dr., Los
Gatos, CA 95032;
tel.: 408-355-2200,
web: parkhere.org
Mutsun Language Foundation - 1162 Innsbruck
Street, Livermore, CA 94550;
web: mutsunlanguage.com
