Father Real in Troubled Times

Father Real in Troubled Times By Damian Bacich, Ph.D. Life for residents of Santa Clara Valley in the 1840s was anything but easy. Ignored by their leaders in Mexico, plagued by political strife at home and threatened by war with the United States, Hispanic settlers had much to deal with. One of those who tried to make the most of a difficult time was Father José María Suárez del Real, the last Franciscan friar at Mission Santa Clara. Father Real, as his contemporaries knew him, arrived in Alta California from Mexico in 1833, with a party of Franciscans from the missionary college of Zacatecas. These young friars had been sent to replace the Spanish-born clergy who had been expelled from the territory by Mexican government decrees. Real and his companions reached Alta California just as the dismantling of the mission system was about to begin. Instead of overseeing the operations of the missions their Spanish confreres had founded decades earlier, they often found themselves in the position of having to help lay administrators dispose of mission assets. To make matters worse, the years between 1833 and 1848 were marked by struggles between local political factions and war with the United States. Further problems developed when funds for the maintenance of the missions and the Church in general had been cut off because of political turbulence in Mexico, leaving the missionaries without a stable source of income. After first serving at Carmel and Monterey, Real was transferred to Mission Santa Clara, where he lived between 1844 and 1851, overseeing Mission San José as well. Despite trying conditions, the padre seems to have been an affable and warm individual, doing his best to help his flock of native Californians and ex-mission Indians deal with the times. California Pioneers Trailblazer Image provided by Department of A rchives & Special Collections, Santa Clara University Mission Santa Clara photo from an Andrew P. Hill painting, 1849 An expert horseman, he was known to organize rodeos and bullfights in the main square in front of the Santa Clara Mission for the amusement of local residents and had a fondness for long horseback rides in the country. He had an interest in mining and metallurgy, helping open up the New Almaden Mine in 1845, and was said to have gone to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in order to find gold. Father Real did not let his adventurous nature inhibit his Franciscan sense of duty to those in need, however. During the harsh winter of 1846, he allowed Anglo-American immigrants to settle in some of the Mission buildings, and even to organize Protestant services. As a trained missionary, he consistently advocated for justice for ex-mission Indians. He even let the numerous family members of British Vice-Consul James Alexander Forbes take up residence in the Mission and live there for many years, retaining only a couple of rooms for his own personal use. Despite his hospitality to newcomers, Real at times had to appeal to local authorities in order to stop the gradual September 2012 destruction of both the Santa Clara and San José Missions. In an 1847 letter to Alcalde John Burton of the Pueblo de San José, Real complained of American squatters causing damage to Mission San José, destroying a large number of musical instruments (including 23 violins), stabling horses in the mission rooms, and burning over 1,500 feet of stored wood. The building had been left practically without windows or doors, and that the situation at Mission Santa Clara was not much better. By late 1847 it was clear the flow of settlers was not going to abate and the ever-practical padre looked for a solution. In October, Real engaged William Campbell, who was living with his family in one of the Mission adobes, to survey lots near the Mission complex. This survey would form the template of what would eventually become the town of Santa Clara. With the end of the Mexican-American War, the influx of gold seekers and the eventual inclusion of the territory into the United States, Real’s time in California was drawing to a close. (Continued p. 12) Page 11 Father Real (Continued) On March 19, 1851, the feast of St. Joseph— patron saint of the Pueblo de San José, Mission San José, and the padre himself—Real transferred the Santa Clara Mission and all its assets to Father John Nobili of the Jesuits, as part of a plan to convert the old, dilapidated mission into a college for a new era. At the behest of Bishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, Real departed for Mexico, where he would live out the rest of his days. The producers of the popular Western television series “Death Valley Days” were planning to film an episode about Real and the New Almaden Mine and had written to Spearman requesting background information on the padre. In his reply, the Jesuit historian described Real as someone who unjustly bore the blame for the poor condition of the Mission under his Image provided by Department of A rchives & Special Collections, Santa Clara University care when he transferred Many of the old Caliit to the Jesuits. “He E arliest known daguerreotype photograph fornios were sad to see the lived and worked of Mission Santa Clara in 1854 padre go. Antonio María through the tragedy of Osio dedicated his History the secularization of the of A lta California to him. General Missions…While in charge at Santa As difficult as such accusations may Mariano Vallejo’s niece, Guadalupe Clara, he saw the Mission slowly be to prove or disprove after 150 Vallejo, referred to Real as “one of the stripped of everything… He had no years, they have contributed to Real’s most genial and kindly of the missionmeans of support, and the so-called reputation as one of the colorful chararies.” Yet not many years passed be‘administrators’ had sold or given away acters of Mexican Alta California. fore stories of a less savory nature everything to their needy friends under began to circulate. Real was blamed the guise of satisfying some fictitious Father Arthur Dunning Spearman, the for the deteriorated state of the Santa ‘debts’ of the early padres.”1 Jesuit author and archivist for Santa Clara Mission buildings, and his name Clara University from 1957 to 1977, Given the troubled times Father Real was associated with allegations of who knew the history of the Santa was thrown into, he is likely an unsung greed, eagerness to sell off mission Clara Mission better than any one of hero of early Santa Clara. properties, and rumors of illegitimate his time, wrote a spirited, though unchildren fathered in Carmel, Monterey published, defense of Real in 1959. 1Santa Clara University A rchives and Santa Clara. Meeting Former Classmates At the Pioneers June luncheon, Sally Howe looked up and down her table; on her left was E d Gustafson and Janette Potter Wolfram while on her right was Rosario Sunyer Beebe. Sally Howe was in the middle. What was the significance? They all graduated from Lincoln High School in San Jose in June, 1949! What are the chances of four classmates coming together at an event and sitting at the same table? Sally tells the Pioneers that this unexpected small reunion was of special significance for the former classmates. Come to a Pioneers event and you might be pleasantly surprised to meet a former friend or classmate. Lincoln H igh School Yearbook California Pioneers Trailblazer September 2012 Page 12