Page 13 - Priorities #27 2004-July

Benedictine Letter The Original Portola Probably Slept Here—
WPS’s Founder Honors Explorers With A Bell
In 1769, Gaspar de Portola and Father Junipero Serra, accompanied by soldiers and missionaries, embarked on a journey that lead them up the coast of California. Portola, originally a soldier in the Spanish army, had been appointed governor
of Baja, California, and more recently governor of Las Californias. Father Serra was the head of the missionaries.
Following the maps of the Spanish sailor Sebastian Viscaino, they arrived and established the first mission, in San Diego. From there, Portola and a company of men journeyed north to Monterey, which according to Viscaino’s map boasted an excellent bay. But it was actually an insignificant harbor and nothing like Viscaino’s description. The explorers thought they had missed it.
Portola continued his exploration with his soldiers toward the North, still looking for Monterey Bay. In his good fortune, from the hills of San Mateo he discovered the San Francisco Bay. On this journey, according to the records of the missionaries and soldiers, they rested under a tall tree, the “Palo Alto.” It was from here, from the present Palo Alto, that they marched through the winding valley, which is now named after Portola. Perhaps they rested on the green fields of what is now the Woodside Priory grounds. On the return journey, the explorers placed crosses to establish their presence by the little Monterey bay and what is now the beach in Carmel. In 1770, Father Serra established the second California mission, at Monterey.
George Potterff, a parent and public relations professional, spearheaded the effort to get an El Camino Real bell to mark Portola’s likely travels through what is now the Woodside Priory grounds. The bell, in front of the Priory’s administration building, was installed in the 1980s.
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I always wanted the Priory to have a Mission Bell to remind our students and faculty of the area’s history.
– Father Egon Javor
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