The Bells Toll. But for Whom?

If you’ve driven California highway 101 or 82, you’ve seen them: cast-iron and concrete bells, standing miles apart like sentinels, from San Diego to Sonoma.

The road has another name—a once and future name—recalling cruelty carried out at a king’s command in the name of faith. California’s heritage was plowed in the path of El Camino Real, a road featuring bells that don’t actually ring, on a highway that didn’t actually begin in California. This camino began as interconnected trails bridging indigenous communities from central Mexico north to Alta California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and south into Central and South America. With the arrival of Spanish settlers, the trade route was transformed into El Camino