The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
July 1968, Volume 14, Number 3
Rita Larkin, Editor
Page 5. Landmark #49. The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception was in constant use between 1858 and the early 1900’s. Outside hung two of the oldest mission bells in California. One was recast. The other now hangs at San Diego Mission de Alcalá.
Page 7. Landmark #51. The first keeper of the “Old Spanish Lighthouse,” officially lit the new beacon at sunset on November 15, 1855, Mariners refer to it as the “White Tower.” (Copyright, Marco Thorne, 1966)
Page 8. Landmark #53. Don José Antonio de Estudillo and his wife, Doña Maria Victoria Dominguez de Estudillo, entertained the most brilliant and aristocratic citizens of Upper California in the Casa de Estudillo. Doña Victoria, known for her charm and her compassion, was buried beneath the alter of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.
Page 10. Landmark #54. Here at Fort Stockton in January 1847 arrived the Mormon Battalion, completing the longest march of infantry known to history. Near here in that same year was born Diego Hunter, son of Captain and Mrs. Jesse Hunter, Mormons, and spoken of as “the first child of American parents born in San Diego.”
Page 12. Landmark #59. On March 27, 1828, the Pattie Party, consisting of Sylvester Pattie, his son, James, and six other men, completed the trail over the southern route from St.Louis, Missouri, to the Presidio of San Diego. Sylvester was imprisoned and died at the spot where the Pattie Memorial now stands. He is reputed to be the first American to die in California.
Page 14. Landmark #65. One of the stirring episodes in San Diego history was the removal by stealth, of the county records from Whaley House New San Diego, in the face of the armed resistance and wild threats of the people of Old Town.
Page 15. Landmark #67. From the Serra Palm site, “El Camino Real,” the most celebrated trail in California begins. Also from this, “Spanish Camp,” Governor Gaspar de Portolá set out on July 14, 1769, in a vain search for the port of Monterey. This early photo of the Serra Palms was donated by Mr. and Mrs. George C. Jessop, Jr., to the San Diego History Center.
Page 17. Landmark #71. After the Señora María Antonia Machado de Silvas hid the Mexican flag in her home, the Casa de Machado, following American occupation of San Diego in 1846, she was whisked away to Lower California to prevent possible American wrath from being visited on hr. Her house is a fine example of adobe construction.
Page 20. Landmark #242. During and for ten years after the Mexican-American War Mission San Diego de Alcalá was a United States army post, the church being used as a stables. This factor, plus the elements, lack of maintenance and severe earthquakes, reduced the “Mother Mission” to crumpled walls and rotted roofs. Restoration is proceeding in a slow consistent fashion.
Page 24. Landmark #533. The San Pasqual Battlefield State Historical Monument commemorates the actions of two gallant armies which clashed on this spot in one of the major actions of the Mexican-American War. (Photo furnished by San Diego Independent)
Page 27. Landmark #711. As a boy John Montgomery, from his father’s farm on Otay Mesa, spent many hours studying air currents and the flight of birds. Later he made spectacular descents in gliding planes launched from ballons at altitudes of nearly a mile. He also invented a seismograph, a power pump for wells, and a telephone similar to Thomas A. Edison’s instrument. (Photo furnished by San Diego independent.)
Page 28. Landmark [#1030] The Star of India sailed under three flags, British, Hawaiian and United States. It was during the American registry that her name was changed by the Alaska Packers, her new owners, from “Euterpe” to “Star of India.”
