A photo essay

CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA MISSION CHURCH

In the movie "How The West Was Won" (1962), the plot is about the fifty years of Ame-rican expansion between the 1830s and 1880s as viewed through the experiences of two families as they migrate by the Erie Canal, continue over the prairies during the California gold rush, suffer through the civil war, and finally help build the railroads on the plains and bring law and justice to the frontier.

But the texture of the film was spiced to Hollywood flavor which was primarily intended to entertain the movie-going public more than anything else.. It said nothing about the role of Mission Churches in converting the native people to the Faith and helped bring ‘law and justice to the frontier.’

One such Mission Church is Carmel-by-the-Sea. Originally called Mission San Carlos Borro-meo del Rio Carmelo, it was founded on June 3, 1770 on the shores of Monterey Bay. One year later on Aug. 24, the mission was relocated to a site at the mouth of the River of Carmel where more abundant fresh water could be obtained.

The following pictures which were taken just recently show how the Mission looks like today:

A view of the front gate leading to the Church.

 

A front view of the Church at a time when a wedding was going on as two ladies in bright red were about to enter. It’s a practice of the Church to shut its door to all others except to participants and guests of the wedding ceremony.

 

Religious statues on display at the Church’s museum

An old camera and other artifacts on display at the museum.

 

 

A view from its quadrangle showing a cross and the Church’s spire.

 

 

A marker at the foot of the cross says it all.

 

A marker in the Church grounds "Honoring Four Early Americans in California."

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ADDED MATERIAL

Carmel-by-the-Sea and its famous Ex-Mayor

Carmel-by-the-Sea. It's like a village out of a children's story book, a seaside town of quaint cottages nestled under gnarled but protective live oak trees. You'd almost expect Hobbitts or elves to inhabit the place. The residents here are real humans, though - some famous and some not. Undisputedly, this charming town's most famous resident is actor, director and former mayor Clint Eastwood.

Why is Clint Eastwood so partial to the Carmel area? Probably for the same reasons the rest of us like it: crashing waves and sea otters playing at Point Lobos, incomparable ocean views hidden around every corner and relaxed ambience to calm the most frenetic of souls.

Eastwood is a native Californian who discovered the Carmel area when he was stationed a few miles north at Fort Ord during the Korean War. After leaving the military, his friends Martin Milner of Route 66 and David Janssen of The Fugitive persuaded him to try acting and the rest is movie-making history. Eastwood spent his early movie-making years in Los Angeles, but he eventually returned to the Carmel area where he still lives.

Eastwood demonstrates his love for the Carmel area in his professional life. He owns a hotel and restaurant, and a golf course. He named his production company, Malpaso Productions, for a creek just south of town. He even directed his first movie here in 1971: Play Misty for Me, the story of a late-night jazz deejay who is terrorized by an obsessive ex-lover. The movie was set in Carmel and Monterey and features many local sights, including nearby Point Lobos and downtown Carmel.

As if all this weren't enough, in 1986 Eastwood wanted to build a small building in downtown Carmel. His efforts were stymied by the town's bureaucratic government and he decided to do something about it. He ran for mayor, winning with 72% of the vote. During his two-year tenure, he successfully made it easier to build or remodel property, got a tourist parking lot built, rescued the historic Mission Ranch from developers and opened a children's annex to the city library.

There are a number of things Eastwood to see and do in the Carmel area:

• Visit the Mission Ranch for a meal or stay there overnight. Their Sunday brunch is especially pleasant on a sunny day.

• Visit Pebble Beach (he's part owner).

• Visit the Hog's Breath Inn at San Carlos and Fifth Avenue in downtown Carmel. Eastwood and his partners sold it a few years ago, but it's the place people refer to as "Clint Eastwood's restaurant."

• Spend some time at Point Lobos, just south of town. It's a featured location in Play Misty for Me.

A source said Clint's salary as a Mayor was about 200$ a month...

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