Bishop Buddy Scrapbook 1937 (3)

not even a horse could pass thtoi,!.gh. the aqueduct wound its way over deep gtilthes 'tit it reached the settling basin of burnt tile adjacent to the F:H:her Jaime's ctoss just below die tnissloh. This basin ls tHe terminus of the first irrigation system ln the westetri UHited Stal:es, the watel: flowing From .Mission Padre bam. Ti-iete ls a smaller col>b!estorie diversion dam abo 1t a mile from the Mission, which was the first development, Bui: was to,Und inade,qi.iat~ to ~tipply t~e heeds elf the M!ssidh. A part of tHe dltl Missiorl Padre Datn ls still stahtlHig. when we refiett that the Padres had no modern impiements or skiiled workmetl no pattern to copy or tollow, we must conclude ,that it was a dating Jndertakittg, ah exploit of no hhle rpomenc. Think of the- dtud1tery of hauling by oxen, the sea-shells for lime to mix fnortar. 'this dam tnay Be t:tlled tf..!e Mother of the great Boulder Dam, th~ wdhder of m9dern times with ,its depth of. 750 ft. holdi11g a lake of water 12 5 miles Io11-g. Y ~F the Mission Padre D::im was a gre:l.ter wdhder in by-ibne days. The .Iritliati.S inust have ga;2ed iii. .tmizemen.t at this great project; jUst ~s we stand Hi awe of the Bottld.er Dam. Ttibul:e and libhbr rightfully sh9ui4 be paid to the Padres for this colossal work, and to them, as builders of this dam, let nbt praise be scant. T O the honor of the Padres let me add the words df Sir William E. Smythe: "There is nothing more remarkable about these priestly builders, than Hie v_ersa'.Hitty of 1:he!r taleri~ c~nd the' ma.ti.net in which they met ail demands. thus they wefe able ,b supply the eiiginee ihg capacity to solve the problem of a permane11I: wati>r supp1y. It is t&is :ttlilevemeH.t wl,:ltii gives 1:lie Mlssii::lh Fathers a high p1ace in die his- tory_ of irHg:Wclh, and the temaihs of that :tntP.ht dam sHou1d Be te- gatded as a H:dldwed shrH:ie." TUNNEL Much cllstussioH. has arisen coticerrHhg en t'b.dergtouhd tt.irtrtel frbtt1 the Padtes' lieadqua'.hers, br o1d adbbe house, leadiftg Into the f aHii laHtls ih froht of the tat ti.ts barHeade, Just between the o1d well and-the still staticllh:g tall palm tl:-ee. _A gettt!eman 111 San Diego, who was a'. bby attetitllng F:ither U8ach's Indlah school, claims lie his beeti ih the tUtitJ.e1. OH1r a few tl::tys agti, twb 1atlles (fribi:H.et ::ttl.d daugiitetl· caliet{ at tfie Mlsslofi after :Hi al:lseHte bf seveiiteeh years. They to d me hat the i'tiest then at the Mission, took the dail.ghtet, whb was seven years old, into ;he tutinei just btilside of the Old Ar:1obe Hotise. they walked through th:e H.tnftel arid wlieti they te:ithed the exit rlear tlie .old spring, the tt.ttihel taved lr1 sbtne ten feet hehUid thetrl-stich is tlie story t:if Mrs. Thomas and Miss Mildred Thomas of Colorado. -11-

mission period. Whether all their bodies tie here, we cannot deter- mine, though no other burying spot is mentioned. I am informed that paleontologists have found three to four hundred right-shoulder blades in this patio. The fact that the Padres were accustomed to bury their dead near the Mission Church, as was done in Capistrano and San Luis Rey, makes us conclude that this graveyard began in the early days of the occupation of this Mission, Hence it is -Jne of the oldest grave- yards in California. CAMINO REAL There is a story which relates that the good padres imposed upon themselves the task of planting a tree a day on the Camino Real, as they journeyed to and from the various missions. As we drive over the wide highways of today, which were merely trails then, our- attention is called to these ancient trees banked on either side of the Camino Real, and we feel grateful to those thought- ful servants of God, whose vision of beauty stands as a monument to their labor, stretching 'from San Diego to Sanoma, "The Valley of the Moon," as Jack London calls it. IRRIGATION The first object the Padres had in mind in coming to California was to teach the Indians the means of saving their souls. The second object was to make them self-supporting and law-abiding citizens. To attain this second goal, the logical means was agriculture. It was not an easy task, 4owever, to change these indolent savages into ac- tive, thrifty workers. But the fear of hunger and empty stomachs is often a potent incentive, even to Indians, to work. Food then was the important factor, and to this end the Indian must learn to plant and cultivate the crops. The Padres realized the necessity of a fairly good supply of water to secure a profitable harvest. This was a serious difficulty to face and it called for skillful hands and ingenious minds. A seasonable rainfall could not be de- pended upon, nor the river below the Mission, which, for the greater part of the year, was only a wady. The need of water had caused a fearful shortage of grain in the first year of the nineteenth century. The droughts warned the Padres to bethink themselves of means ·to construct an extensive system of irrigation works. About six miles above the Mission, they dammed the- river with a solid stone wall 232 ft. long and 16 ft. high, 8 ft. thick, coating it with cement. It is ~ought that the dam was built about the year 1802. From this dam, an aqueduct constructed with tiles resting on cobblestones in cement, led a stream of water one foot deep and two feet wide to the mission !ands. This aqueduct was built through a precipitous gorge, which -1~-