David K
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INAH (finally) gets to MISION STA. MARIA
I got these three photos today, originating from the INAH survey crew... They are finally going to see if they can stabilize the walls...
Photo 1, road to the mission:
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David K
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The mission church:
![MISIONSANTAMA[1][1]-r.JPG - 46kB](https://forums.bajanomad.com/files.php?pid=200350&aid=13200 "MISIONSANTAMA[1][1]-r.JPG - 46kB")
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David K
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Looking out the door from inside (eastward):
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Taco de Baja
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If they are like the agencies in the US. it will be another 2 years until anything more is done. This "investigational study" is only the
beginning......  
Next it will go through committee after committee, deciding on the 'best' plan, and how to implement it, who will pay, if the environment will be
damaged, what to do with the trash generated by the workers, the best way to get to the site, asking “should anything really be done at all?”….on and
on and on and on…
In the end, they will decide something like using burlap bags filled with sand from the creek to shore up the undermining doorway, like we nomads
suggested when this issue first came up (what? 2 years ago?)....
Sorry for the cynicism.... I am in fact glad that finally something IS being started.
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wilderone
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I was impressed with what INAH has done, and is doing, in Yucatan with the Mayan ruins. Excavations are ongoing at several sites there. I believe
whatever they do at Msn. Santa Maria will be quality work.
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David K
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The photos came with a Word attachment (in Spanish) which I asked Dr. Jackson (AA) to translate... I will post it here... It does say they are
returning soon to begin work!
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Jack Swords
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Great news if they take action. To lose the front wall would leave little else.
Thanks David.
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David K
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INAH LETTER (in English)
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
The photos came with a Word attachment (in Spanish) which I asked Dr. Jackson (AA) to translate... I will post it here... It does say they are
returning soon to begin work! |
Thanks to academicanachist (Dr. Robert Jackson PhD):
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INAH will come to Santa Maria de los Angeles Mission.
Conservation work will begin in February.
The mission was built in 1767 and abandoned in 1818.
Ensenada, B.C. January 17, 2007. Next February the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Baja California will implement actions to
protect, and immediately an archaeological project, in the remains of Santa Maria de los Angeles Mission, a site that has not been sacked thanks to
its difficult access.
The archaeologist Julia Bendimez Patterson, Director of the CINAH-BC, reported that in the last days of last year, with the assistance of Mr. Horacio
Tonche Davila, Delegate from Cataviña, she was at the site located in the south of the Municipality of Ensenada, with the archaeologist Oswaldo Cuadra
and the architect Carlos Chavez, responsible for the project Maintenance of Mission Sites of CINAH-BC.
Regarding [the Mission], the last of those mentioned [Chavez] commented that the remains of the adobe walls that constitute the mission have
deteriorated only because of natural causes by climatic factors and fortunately there is no deterioration from vandalism or sacking.
[He] explained that the still standing walls show signs of deterioration in the bases due to subsoil humidity primarily, and that erosion on the
surfaces of the walls due to the sun, wind, and constant humidity of the environment is obvious, since they lost their covering.
In order to reduce the deterioration, Chavez Reyes said, they intend to carry out actions to consolidate and protect the remains, within the project
titled minor maintenance of the mission sites. This will consist of placing new adobes in the base of the walls, utilizing the traditional
construction system of applying a covering of clay, better known as sacrificial covering, on the walls that still exist, in this way the remains will
be protected, extending their permanence.
He said that INAH-BC began to apply the protectice covering 10 years ago, and little by little it has been applied to more mission walls, among those
found in the missions of San Miguel Arcangel de la Frontera, San Vicente Ferrer, Santo Domingo de la Frontera, El Rosario de Arriba, El Rosario de
Abajo, San Fernando de Velicata, and San Francisco [de] Borja.
Currently the extnesion of the buildings can be seen in the adobe remains of Santa Maria de los Angeles, which consist of a principal structure
oriented east to west, its head walls still conserve a trinagular form where irs covering from two waters rested.
The mission sites is located 138 kilometers northwest of San Francisco [de] Borja. It was discovered by father Fernando Consag in 1746, and later
explored in 1764 and 1765 by father Wenceslao Link.
Fathers Victoriano Arnes and Juan Jose Diez founded the mission in May 1767, where a church and residence were constructed of adobe. The Indian
population is calculated to have arrived at 330 in 1768 and 523 in 1771. Supplies for the mission arrived by [way of] San Luis Gonzaga Bay, twenty
kilometers to the east, that father Consag discovered in 1746.Archaeologist Bendimez explained that this was the last of the missions built by the
Company of Jesus in the Californias. The Franciscans occupied Santa Maria de los Angeles for a few months in 1768, but [the mission] was abandoned in
favor of the site of Velicata 67 kilometers norwest and a short distance from the Pacific Ocean. Reduced to a visita of San Francisco [de] Borja
mission, it was permanently abandoned from 1818.
In order to reach the site one covers a long stretch of extremely irregular and rocky terrain, the vegetation in the zone is a varient characteristic
of the reserve of the Valley of Los Sirios. The ruins are located on a small mesa, with the protection of hills on all sides. At the extreme north and
south run two streams, one of which constantly has water[,] and the large palms that border the valley contrast with desert vegetation.
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Taco de Baja
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"[Chavez] commented that the remains of the adobe walls that constitute the mission have deteriorated only because of natural causes by climatic
factors and fortunately there is no deterioration from vandalism or sacking."
Not necessarily true.
On my first trip there in the early 1970's (we hiked in with the Sierra Club when I was 5) my dad told us that he saw evidence of people digging into
and under the walls, probably looking for "mission treasure" when he was first there in the late 40's and early 50's
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David K
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Yes, I saw that point, too... Obviously the great story told by Arthur North was missed in their readings... A big hole in the middle of the mission
floor was also dug in search of treasure from someone 40 years ago or there-abouts.
Only because it is so difficult to get to has it remained so well preserved compared to the other adobe missions... Also, a dryer climate then along
the Pacific.
Bad Roads = Good People... I sure hope INAH doesn't 'fix' the Widowmaker or any other part of the nearly 15 miles from Santa Ynez!
[Edited on 2-3-2007 by David K]
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