February 7, 2026
The Mission San Gabriel Arcangel was founded in 1771 and is the fourth of the historic missions. It is sometimes referred to as the “Godmother of the Los Angeles”.
The Franciscan friars planted vineyards at all of the California missions out of a need for sacramental wine used during Mass. This vine was planted in 1775 and still gives fruit used to make wine.
In the 1890s, regional boosters began to promote El Camino Real – the King’s Highway, as a touristic route up and down California. Bells were hung along the route with signs marking the distance to the next mission. By the mid-1950s virtually all of the bells were gone and in 1963, California began to replace them with bells designed by Justin Kramer like the one displayed here. There are now nearly 600 bells along state highways maintained by the California Department of Transportation.
In recent years, some Native American groups and activists have have called for the removal of the bells, arguing that they are potent symbols of of colonization of their ancestors and promote a distorted and romanticized history of the California missions.
Certainly the missions that we have visited, when discussing the local populations tend to treat them as helpers rather than forced labor who suffered serious hardships and faced catastrophic population decline. The Mission San Gabriel Arcangel is no exception. For example, next to a replica of a traditional Tongva dwelling there is a long description of the tribe but no mention of the catastrophic effect colonization had on them.
Mal and Lauren 