Wooden crosses in cemetery at Mission Assistencia of San Antonio at Pala, ca.1898

Wooden crosses in cemetery at Mission Assistencia of San Antonio at Pala, ca.1898

San Diego
Cemeteries
Missions
Spanish
Pala

Black and White photograph of crosses marking graves beyond a white picket fence, which in itself is symbolic. Date thought to be 1898. There are seven wooden crosses, with an eighth one painted in white. The graves are decorated with meaningful items, such as clocks, flowers or shrubbery, or bottles, plates and ceramics and other pottery. This in itself gives the impression that the graves are of wealthy people. The edges of some of the wooden crosses are split into fork like carvings. As listed by the archives, the names of some of those buried here are indigenous Californians and not of missionary Europeans, such as Luiseno Cupeno and Constancia Ybarra.

C.C. Pierce

Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960. University of Southern California, California Historical Society

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll65/id/4809

1898

Hannah Wiseman

University of Southern California Historical Society (digitized collection) C.C. Pierce (original)

N/A

Visual - photograph

19th century California