San Diego History Quiz

Question:
In 1926, the bells from what mission in San Diego County were stolen?

Answer:
Santa Ysabel Indian Mission. This mission was founded in 1818 as an asistencia, or sub-mission, in the Santa Ysabel Valley. The Indians were called to worship by two ancient bells that had been bought from Mission El Rosario in Baja California for six burro-loads of barley and wheat. They may have been the oldest bells brought to Upper California. One was inscribed "N.S. De Loreto 1729" and the other "San Pedro 1767." After secularization in the 1830s, the mission deteriorated, but the Indians built a yoke from which to hang their cherished bells.. One night in 1926 the bells mysteriously disappeared. It is not known if they were stolen by greedy men, or by Indians who wanted to protect them. The two bell clappers were later recovered, and in 1966 a part of one of the bells was found, although its whereabouts since 1926 was never revealed. In 1924 a new chapel was built on the original Santa Ysabel chapel site, where it awaits the two lost bells. On June 20, 1993, a new hand-cast brass and bronze bell was placed at the mission.

San Diego County Historical Landmark #369

More on the Santa Ysabel mission asistencia

History Quiz questions and answers are from San Diego Trivia and San Diego Trivia 2 by Evelyn L. Kooperman, a native San Diegan and reference librarian at the San Diego Public Library.