Founding San Jose Mission
The first of the five, and the only one east of the San Francisco Bay, was founded on June 11, 1797, by Father Fermin Lasuen. No one knows exactly why San Jose Mission was built here, but some have suggested that the missionaries wanted to keep it further away from the new city of San Jose so the Indians would not be tempted by the city ways, or that it was a good place for the military to protect travelers crossing the mountains. It was located near the Ohlone Indian village called Orisom, where the town of Fremont now stands. It was named for Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ and Patron of the Universal Church.After the dedication, the soldiers quickly built shelters for themselves and the priests, and within 3 weeks, there were seven more buildings laid out in a rectangle (instead of the square pattern used elsewhere). They received supplies and gifts from nearby mission settlements to help them get started, including over 500 head of cattle and large flock of sheep from Santa Clara.
Early Years at San Jose Mission
The Ohlone Indians did not want to change their way of living, and in the beginning, the fathers found it difficult to get them to move in. Only thirty-three Indians were living at San Jose Mission at the end of that first year. However, the location had military importance, near the western approach to the Central Valley.San Jose Mission 1800-1820
Around 1805, Father Jose Fortuni and Father Narcisa Duran arrived at San Jose Mission. They worked together to attract the Indians and trained them as weavers, blacksmiths, rope makers, leather tanners, tile and adobe brick makers, shoemakers and carpenters. The women learned to sew, spin, cook, launder and do needlework.In 1805 a new church was started and it was finished on April 22, 1809. It was a simple, solid building with walls 8 feet thick in some places.
San Jose Mission prospered in the 1800s and it controlled all the land around it, north almost to Oakland, east into the Livermore Valley and up through the Sacramento Delta and west towards the Bay. The small herd of 500 cattle grew to 350,000 - the largest herd of any mission. With so much land, the agricultural output was second in the territory, and its olive oil production was the highest. By 1816 they were trading Indian-made goods for coffee, sugar, spices, hardware, fabrics and supplies. They even bought a boat and sailed across the Bay to trade with ocean-going ships.
San Jose Mission 1820s - 1830s
New homes were added as needed because by 1825 they had over 1,800 Indians living there. In 1830 there were 2,000 making it the largest Indian population in northern California.In 1833, San Jose Mission was one of the most prosperous in the territory. A church inventory, listed the church building, monastery, guardhouse, guest house, and women's dormitory, in addition to the thousands of acres of crops and grazing land.
Secularization at San Jose Mission
In 1833 leadership was given to the Mexican church leader Friar Rubio. The Spanish priests left, Jose de Jesus Vallejo was appointed civil administrator and within three years the lands, which were supposed to be given to the Indians, were divided into ranchos. The church was apparently plundered by Vallejo and there was little left to sell.At the end of the Mexican War in 1848, California was given to to the United States. During the Gold Rush, H.C. Smith converted the buildings to a place of lodging and added a general store to the south end. The town became a thriving provision center at the gateway to the southern mines. Names of many pioneer families prominent in early California history--Livermore, Peralta, Alviso--were closely linked to San Jose Mission.
In the later part of the 1850's, the Catholic Church was given the church building as well as some of the land that surrounded it.
