SONOMA MISSION:
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
MISSION SAN FRANCISCO DE SOLANO QUADRANGLE (1)
Adan E. Treganza
I. INTRODUCTION
Sonoma Mission (2) was founded in 1823, the same year that Spanish
domination ended in Alta California. With the shift from Church
guidance to secular rule following only eleven years later, no interest
remained for any extension of Mission life in California, and no pro-
gram of maintenance was provided for those Missions in existence.
Vallejo, during the Mexican period, was secularly oriented, while the
Church provided for the few spiritual needs of the families and sol-
diers serving under his paternalism.  The Indians lived virtually in
bondage, there being no concern whether they remained heathen or
Christian. On the Sonoma coast the Russians of 1810 were developing
their economic interests in the sea otter trade along with attempts at
agriculture and boat building. This activity of the Muscovites posed
a disturbing threat to the residents of Sonoma and San FrancisCo, for
it raised questions of international politics and territorial expan-
sion.  In 1846, on the doorstep of the Mission San Francisco de
Solano, California came of age with the Bear Flag Revolt. The coming
of the Gold Rush brought to California people interested in making
history, not recording it. With these events taking place it is not
difficult to understand how a structure such as the Sonoma Mission,
built as late as 1823, could slip into unrecorded oblivion in its
structural details, yet remain and be enriched as an institution
through the medium of local folklore. The latter, though interesting,
is rarely factual and seldom pays archaeological dividends.
With the turn of the century the making of local history had
slowed to a more nominal pace. -California was becoming cognizant of
the ruins marking the milestones of its historic past. At this point
nature struck a devastating blow with the earthquake of 1906. For
some years following, the Bay Area was rebuilding itself, not its
historical landmarks.
Since the founding of the Mission, its grounds and buildings
have served as church, winery, store, hay storage, and finally as a
local refuse dump.  In 1911, when partial restoration was attempted,
the nature and number of problems were not fully realized. Almost
every earlier stage of reoccupation resulted in some form of struc-
tural alteration of the original Mission features. Restoration in part
has proceeded on the basis of oral tradition, sometimes of third gener-
ation vintage or older.
The primary purpose of the 1954 season's work was twofold.
First, it represented a continuation of the work started the previous
summer by James A. Bennyhoff and Albert B. Elsasser with the primary
objective being further inquiry into some of the unsolved problems
left by these earlier excavators. Second, should time permit within
the limitations of our two weeks, we were to ascertain as nearly as
possible the location and nature of any buildings which would define
the extremities of the original Mission quadrangle. Though many
problems still remain, as with most historical reconstructions, it
is felt that the additional data gained now permit a much broader
and more accurate view of what the original Mission grounds were like.
Any attempt at Mission reconstruction should retain the idea
that Mission life necessitated the environment of a nearly self-
sufficient socio-economic unit.  This Mission, like others, probably
followed the general practice of constructing such buildings as the
church, chapel, dormitories, priests' house, in the form of a par-
tially or completely enclosed quadrangle. Beyond the central area
there must have existed adobe mixing pits, kilns for the firing of
tile, wood and metalworking shops, tannery, stables and other auxil-
iary structures. With our current excavations we feel this original
quadrangle is now known to us, but with the admission that most of
the lesser structures are lost as far as any practical plan of
recovery for visual display is concerned. One exception exists-
this is in the little-built-on property to the east and north of the
present State-owned property. We know Building C extends into this
northern area and there are reports of lesser structures beyond this
building.
It is highly commendable that the California State Division of
Beaches and Parks has chosen to explore as fully as possible the
potential resources within the area of State ownership and to express
interest in the potentialities of the immediately adjacent areas.
Foresight and acquisition in this case may preserve for the people
of California an accurate picture of the Mission's history, which
marked the end of the Mission system in California, spanned the later
years of the colorful life of Mariano Vallejo, and witnessed the dawn
of Cal'ifornia statehood. It is with this idea of reconstruction and
preservation of the Sonoma Mission that the present paper deals.
II. REVIEW OF EARLIER WORK
Plrior to any landscaping within the present courtyard of Sonoma
Mission, Aubrey Neasham, historian for the State Division of Beaches
and Parks, thought it desirable to conduct some form of investiga-
tion to determine whether or not any sub-surface structures were
present. In order that the investigation be done by trained personnel,
the services of the Archaeological Survey of the University of
California were called upon. The first seasonts excavations by James
A. Bennyhoff and Albert B. Elsasser, published under the title
"Sonoma Mission - An Historical and Archaeological Study of Primary
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Constructions, 1823 - 1913" revealed for the first time many new
features of the Mission. Also realized were new problems, solutions
of which were prevented mainly by a shortage of time.  Any error of
interpretation made by the 1953 authors is not due to lack of in-
sight or technique but rather to a lack of data at the time when
funds were exhausted. The 1954 excavation provided some answers to
older problems and led to the discovery of new structures.
Of primary concern to Bennyhoff and Elsasser were: (1) How
much of the existing structures actually represented primary Mission
construction, and, if of primary origin, to what degree had they
been altered in the various periods of post-Mission occupation and
rehabilitation.  (2)  What was the relationship of newly-exposed
architectural features to existing features. (3) To what degree
could the existing and excavated features be identified with specific
buildings as noted in reliable historic documents, early illustra-
tions, and other published works.
Early in the preparation of their manuscript folloving excava-
tions, Bennyhoff and Elsasser realized that any meaningful discussion
of their findings was dependent upon a thorough knowledge of all the
available primary historical sources. The often-cited secondary and
verbal sources 'frequently proved more confusing than useful. Those
interested in the documentary aspects of the Mission's history are
referred to the 1953 report of excavations.
To comprehend fully the work completed by the two earlier
excavators, reference should be made to their Map 1 which shows
their achievements in detail. To establish continuity between the
two seasons of excavation there is presented here, with slight modi-
fications, a summary of the building sequences at Sonoma Mission as
given by Bennyhoff and Elsasser (1954:18).
On July 4, 1823 Padre Jose Altimira blessed the site of the
Mission San Francisco de Solano and there followed the erection of
the original wooden Chapel, a temporary structure completed in 1824.
It stood in approximately the same location as the later Adobe
Chapel and was probably razed when the latter was built in 1840.
The first Adobe Church wa begun in 1827 and finished in 1832.
It stood just to the east of the Priests' House and was built by
Indian laborers. The walls of the Adobe Church collapsed between
1834 and 1838, probably from the weakening effects of heavy rains
which followed the supposed temporary removal of the roof in connec-
tion with remodeling.  There is no satisfactory evidence that any
later structure was erected on the site of this building, until
decades after the American period began.  The Adobe Chapel was built
in 1840 on the site of the first wooden chapel, under the direction
of Vallejo, to provide religious services for his troops and the
increasing population of the town of Sonoma. The Mhapel has sur-
vived, with modifications, to the present day. The Priests' House
was probably erected in 1825 just east of the original wooden
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chapel. From 1832 on, at least, the Priests' House can be identified
with the modern structure which now functions as a museum. The
Priests' House was joined to the newly constructed Chapel in 1840.
The remaining history of Sonoma Mission is primarily one of decay
until the restoration of the Chapel and the Priests' House after 1910.
Shortly after 1874 the Chapel and the Priests' House were separated
and a breezeway formed between the two buildings. A sacristy was
built adjoining the east wall of the chapel. In 1903 ownership of
the Mission passed to the State. The 1906 earthquake left much of
the Priests' House in ruins and caused the collapse of the southwest
corner of the Chapel. Restoration began in 1911 and was essentially
completed in 1913.
The essential architectural features discovered and described
by Bennyhoff and Elsasser (1954:21-45) are:
Buildin& A. This building lies to the north of the present
museum, and its foundations are continuous with those of the museum.
Building A and the museum have been interpreted as jointly represent-
ing the original Priests' House. Map 1 of the 1953 excavations
shows this building to terminate at the present gateway of the
Mission. There is now evidence that both Building A and the museum
foundations continue in an easterly direction, extending under the
present east wall of the State property. The relationship between
the Priests' House and the original Adobe Church is of interest and
will be covered in detail in discussing the most recent excavations.
Building A was paralleled on its north side by a tile walk and
drain eight feet wide. The walk probably was originally roofed over,
as is the front of the present museum. The east end of the walk and
drain have been considerably disturbed by drainage ditches; however,
we were able to establish the eastern end of this walk as is shown
in our Feature 19 (Fig. 1).
Buldin   B. The foandation structure of this building is
immediately east of the present Chapel. The exact function of this
building has not been determined. Since its fouudations are intru-
sive into the Chapel's walkway laid in 1840, it would at least post-
date the tile walkway; An artist's sketch of 1889 shows a small
wooden structure occupying about the same location as Building B,
but no mention is made as to its use. Judging from the relation-
ship of Building B to the present Chapel, Bennyhoff and Elsasser
have tentatively selected the term sacristy to represent this struc-
ture. They emphasize the desirability of more information on this
structure.
The Chapel. The present chapel, built in 1840 by Vallejo,
underwent considerable alteration in subsequent years.  These changes
are discussed by Bennyhoff and Elsasser (1954:40) in some detail.
Our work did not concern this building and it wll not be treated in
this paper.
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The Well. No further work was done on the well first discovered
in 1953.  It has generally been concluded that the well represents
a post-Mission feature.  Possibly the well-shaft may date back to
some period of Mission occupation but the wood structure built around
the shaft is so out of character as to material and location with
other Mission features that it would appear to be better associated
with the late Mexican or early American period.
III. EXCAVATIONS OF 1954
A. Relationship Between the Priests' House and the Location of the
Adobe Church
One of the major problems unsolved in the Bennyhoff and Elsasser
reconstruction was the possible relationship between the existing
gateway (breezeway) and both the Priests' House and the Adobe Church.
This is discussed in some detail under Feature 17 (Bennyhoff and
Elsasser, 1954:36), in which it was theorized that the Adobe Church
was directly involved.
Largely because archaeological data were lacking at the time,
it can now be shown that the very tentative reconstruction presented
was in error at several places. Mlainly, the Adobe Church does not
seem to be involved at all at this particular point in the architec-
tural groundplan. Originally Bennyhoff and Elsasser concluded,
"The Priests' House was built in 1825 as a distinct building; the
northeast corner of Building A corresponds to that of the original
Priests' House. A roofed colonnade may or may not have existed along
the east side, through the present gateway. When the foundations
of the Adobe Church were laid in 1827, the Priests' House was extended
eastward to join the Church without a gap." (Bennyhoff and Elsasser,
1954:37). Their conclusions were based upon the following:    (1) that
the Priests' House and the Adobe Church were not laid out together
in 1827 was suggested by the thick east wall of Building A; (2) that
at the northeast corner of Building A they could find no definite
evidence that the foundation continued on in an easterly direction;
hence they concluded they were dealing with the original northeast
corner of the Priests' House; (2) Feature 17, which is contiguous
with the foundation of the present gateway wall, was interpreted as
constituting an exceptionally thick adobe wall; because of its thick-
esos it must therefore represent the west side of the Adobe Church;
(3) it was thought that the remnant of tile paving just east of the
gateway drain (Bennyhoff and Elsasser, 1954:Map 1) mould possibly
represent a walkway along the west side of the Adobe Church.
What actually occurred is made clear by the 1954 excavations.
Bennyhoff and Elsasser are probably quite right when they assume that
the Adobe Church and the Priests' House were originally separate
structures and that the northeast corner of Building A marked the
original corner of the Priests' House. Very likely, also, a tile
walk was present along the east side of this building. Our Feature
5
19 is the now fully-exposed remnant of tile paving earlier referred
to, and it clearly shows the latter to be a continuation of the walk
on the north side of the Priests' House. The tile pattern forms a
definite corner and originally probably extended in a southerly
direction along the east side of Building A now known as the Priests'
House (Map 1, Map 2, Fig. 1).  The tile bears no relationship to the
Adobe Church as earlier suggested.
Apparently in 1827, when the Priests' House was extended so that
it connected with the foundation of the nearly finished Adobe Church,
two sets of additional rooms, i.e. four rooms of about equal size
(see below), were added to the Priests' House through mere extension
of the original foundations. This extension would have then destroyed
that portion of the tile walk which, prior to alterations, ran along
the east end of the Priests' House. Map 2 and Figure 1 clearly show
the position of the two sets of added rooms and the nature of the
foundation structure as related to existing features. What caused
Bennyhoff and Elsasser to assume their thick section of wall in
Feature 17 represented the wall of the Adobe Church is that they could
not know at the time that they were viewing the extension of the
foundation of the Priests' House. A cement walk on private property
prevented them from excavating far enough to visualize the full extent
of the construction. It was possible for us to gain a broader per-
spective by digging on the east side of the south end of the present
gateway wall, where, in Test Pit 4 (Map 1), we could clearly observe
the continuation of the foundation. Also, by extending the area of
excavations on the north end of the gateway wall, we could again
follow with no difficulty the partition foundation of the Priests'
House to a point where it met the outside or north wall foundation,
which then continues in an easterly direction, extending under the
present east wall of the State property. This is clearly shown in
Plater 4a and in Figure 1.
Of the four additional rooms discovered, the northwest room, for
example, provides an inside measurement of 10' x 17'. A room of
this size is not out of character with some of the priests' quarters
at Carmel Mission. There was no way to determine the exact size of
the two rooms to the east, since they are under the house on the
property belonging to Mrs. Z. Tomasi. Also, in the reconstruction
(Map 2) we only surmise that this latter set of rooms made contact
with the Adobe Church. However, by noting the size of the northwest
room (above) and assuming that the rooms east and southeast of it
were the same size, we discovered that the hypothetical outside wall
of these eastern rooms would, when projected in a northerly direction,
line up perfectly with the wall foundation at the east end of the
newly-discovered Building C. Thus one corner, the southeast corner
of the Mission Quadrangle, was completed. This reconstruction may
be seen in Map 2. Because of this apparent alignment it is felt that
the Church location is fairly accurate. A small test pit was made
in the driveway between the houses owned by Mrs. Z. Tomasi and Mrs.
J. Tomasi and no foundation remains were noted to indicate the
6
possible location of the Church; however, there is no positive
evidence to assure us that the front wall of the Adobe Church was
flush wi-th the face of the Priests' House, and our single test pit
could easily have been north or south of any foundation features.
The negative evidence supports the idea that the Church was
located at least as far east as the present east wall of the Mission
Quadrangle (see Map 2). If this were not the case, our Test Pit 2,
shown on Map 1, should have intersected any foundation traversing
the area. Test Pit 2, however, produced nothing other than the
usual mixed rubble of dump refuse. If the original dimensions given
for the Adobe Church are correct and our placement is not too far
off, then the northwest corner of the Church might be on State
property in the vicinity of the present women's rest room.
B. Features
The term feature as used here will refer to specific points
which are of unusual interest or points relatiiig to construction
where elaboration is desired. The numbers used are a continuation
of the series started by Bennyhoff and Elsasser in their work of
1953.
1. Feature 18 (P1. lc).   This feature consists of an eight
pound cannon ball resting in the debris at the east end of the tile
walk which formed the north side of the Priests' House. This was
given a feature number since it represents one of the few artifacts
recovered from the excavations which can be assigned with any cer-
tainty to the Vallejo pe-riod of occupation. No explanation is
offered as to how the cannon ball came to occupy its present loca-
t ion.
2. Feature 19 (P1. ld; Fig. 1).   This is a remnant marking
the end of the tile walkway which formed the north side of the
Priests' House. It is the fully exposed area which Bennyhoff and
Elsasser thought might represent a walk along the west side of the
Adobe Church.
Some detail is given here (Fig. 1) since the tile pattern may
be of interest in future reconstructions. The outside corner is
marked by a definite post hole which would have adequately taken
care of a 6" by 6" post; however, no wood fragments now remain.
Because of the size of the post no attempt was made to cut a tile
to fit around the wood as in the case of the smaller inner post
(Fig. 1) located midway between the foundation of the Priests'
House and the corner of the tile walk. The inner post measured
approximately 3-1/4" by 3-1/4"t and was set in a circular hole in
the. tile. Judging by the abrasion marks on the tile, it is assumed
that the hole, rather than representing a tile originally cast with
a circular hole, had been chipped out and ground smooth. A similar
situation was noted for two post holes in Building C.
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In general the tiles which form the walk are inconsistent in
their size, ranging from 9" x 9" to 13" x 13", with various combina-
tions between these two extremes. Rarely do perfect squares occur.
Bennyhoff and Elsasser suggest that the tiles might have been made
in several different sized press molds. I would rather assume, on
the basis of the varied dimensions and the irregularity of the sur-
face on the underside of the tile, that they were made by compress-
ing damp clay between two flat sticks, alternately forming the
sides.  The irregular upper surface thus formed became the nether
surface when laid. Once sun-dried, the tiles probably were fired at
a temperature under 10000 F., since all are soft and have the dark,
"reduced" interior. As earlier noted the width of the walk is 8 -
feet. In the report of the 1953 excavation, Bennyhoff and Elsasser
observed a small portion of our Feature 19 and correctly interpreted
it as part of the walk along the north side of the Priests' House,
with an alternate suggestion that it might possibly represent a
fragment of walk on the west side of the Adobe Church. The point in
question is more fully discussed in the present report under the
section "Relationship Between the Priests' House and the Location
of the Adobe Church" (p. 7).
C. Building C.
Building C, which extends well beyond the present northern
limits of State property, represents one of the largest and best
preserved of the sub-surface ruins so far unearthed at Sonoma
Missi-on. The outside wall measurements are 93' x 27'; inside wall
to wall measurements are 88' x 21'. Until complete excavation of
the interior can be done we can only speculate as to the function
of this building. Its location and size tentati'vely suggest that
it may have served as a dormitory for resident Indian neophytes.
The   ual report of the Mission for 1827 refers to the construc-
tion of new living quarters about 82' x 33'. No specific mention
was made whether this house was to be occupied by padres or Indians.
The position of this building with respect to the extremities of the
Priests' House provides intriguing speculation as to the possible
location of the Adobe Church, as can be observed in the reconstruc-
tion of the quadrangle in Map 2. Though only partially excavated,
enough interesting structural features were exposed to indicate that
Building C was of some significance in the total plan of the Mission
Quadrangle (Fig. 2, a-d).
1. General Description. The building, a long narrow rectangle
parallel to the Priests' House, forms the greater part of the
northern border of the Mission court yard. Remnant adohe brick
walls rest upon well-tamped rubble foundations; and the interior
area, so far as exposed, is covered w'ith a fired clay tile floor of
excellent quality. Some sort of auxiliary structure is attached to
the west end of the foundation (Map 1; P1. 4, b, c).
8
2. Foundation (PF. la; P1. 2c-d; PF. 3d). The foundation of
this building is of the same construction as observed by us and
Bennyhoff and Elsasser in the foot walls of the Priests' House
(ibid., p. 22). The general practice was to provide as firm and
level a base as possible upon which to erect the adobe walls and
additional superstructure. To-accomplish this, numerous small
field stones, up to 5 inches in diameter, were puddled in a matrix
of adobe mud. In this particular building the foundation, especially
in the area which we interpreted as a door way, is characterized by
the mixture of numerous pieces of broken roof tile with field stone.
No such occurrence was noted in the Priests' Rouse by Bennyhoff and
Elsasser or by us.  This may possibly mean that Building C is of
somewhat later construction than the Priests' House and Adobe Church,
the reject and broken roof tile from these two structures being used
in Building C, perhaps because of a growing shortage of easily
obtainable field stone. Any variation in the type of floor or roof
tile which could be detected might in the future provide a partial
key to the sequence of building construction or identify certain
structures as belonging to the same period. Pottery differences
serve this purpose in the analysis of Southwestern archaeology and
in a similar way varied organic constituents in adobe bricks may be
used for relative dating of early historic sites in the west.
Because of the irregularity of the field stones, the width of
the foundation varied between 38" and 43" on the north, east, and
south sides. The west wall foundation was only 24" wide. Although
the west wall was an end wall, it functioned more as a partition,
as one can observe in Figure 2a. The main north and south walls,
carrying the bulk of the structural weight of the building extended
on past the end of the west wall where they terminated without
possessing any connecting wall between them at this point. This
provided some manner of open-end auxiliary housing.
3. Adobe Walls (P1. 2b; pl. 3a, b, d; P1. 4b, c; Fig. 2b).
Almost the entire south wall contained several courses of well-
formed adobe bricks set firmly in brown bonding clay. The size of
individual bricks remained fairly constant, being 22" to 23" long,
11" wide, and 3" thick. Any great variation in size was noted only
where a broken brick was used. Though some attempt was made to
determine the pattern of laying the brick (Fig. 2a; P1. 3d) no con-
sistent method could be detected other than that in any contiguous
series of bricks two general practices were followed; (1) as in
modern masonry, the technique of breaking vertical joints between
courses and at corners was employed; (2) with walls being 36" to
40" thick, the internal joints of each course of brick were also
broken to provide an added measure of strength.
Variations in the pattern were frequently brought about in
internal wall structure by the use of broken bricks or as the result
of filling an extra large gap with a mass of bonding clay and adobe
rubble. The separation of these features is often difficult since,
with time, old adobe walls tend to blend into an inseparable mass.
9
By shaving a wall with a shovel and using water to emphasize color
and density, features occasionally can be sharpened sufficiently to
record patterns photographically. If the feature is important
enough, infrared film could be employed (Buettner-Janusch:84).
4. Interior Tile Floor (P1. 1 a-b; P1. 2 a-d; P1. 4 b-c; Fig.
2c).  Limited testing of the interior of this building suggests
that with the exception of the southeast corner, which was disturbed
during the construction of the rest rooms, most of the floor tile
should still be present in fair to excellent condition.  The best
preservation was observed in that portion of the building which
occupies State property and has for some time been protected by
several feet of overburden resulting from an earlier dump around the
large cactus thicket. (P1. 2a; P1. 4b-c). The larger portion of
the building lies to the north of the State property and here the
tile floor is covered with about 6 inches of top soil and has been
subject to more erosional factors.
Though not inspected in minute detail, the tile here appears to
be very similar to that forming the walk north of the Priests' House,
differing mainly in that greater uniformity and better surfaced
pieces appear more common than in the latter walk. Possibly more
care was taken in the selection of interior tile. Individual tiles
vary in dimensions from 10 to 13 inches on the sides and are about
2 inches thick. Because of the lack of consistency in tile sizes,
cumulative errors developed at various intervals, this being most
apparent in the corners. To solve this problem a simple adjustment
was made, either by cutting a tile to size, or if the gap was
small, by using flat stones (P1. lb; Fig. 2c-d&.  For very small
corrections, an excess of mortar was used between the tiles.
5. Doors (P1. 3c; Fig. 2d). In most cases where adobe bricks
have been removed and have left only the foundation, the latter pro-
vides little or no indication of the former presence of external
apertures because it lies below any possible sill line. However,
along the south wall we encountered a 7 foot break in the remnant of
the adobe brick wall. The foundation beneath the break differed from
the adjacent portions in that it contained an excess of smashed roof
tile bordered on both sides by a row of uniformly selected cobbles.
This debris was flush with the floor tile and may have served as the
base for a threshold (P1. 3c). Further exploration to the south on
the outside of the wall would have been desirable but the presence
of the large cactus halted operations at this point.
D. Test Pits (map 1).
1. Test Pit 1. Test pit 1 was placed at the north end of the
Chapel in anticipation of locating some indication of an extended
foundation from the present Chapel. This location was selected
because, in a recent repainting of the Chapel, there was clearly
outlined on the north wall a large rectangular patch area. This was
10
no doubt brought about by change in paint color resulting from
differen4ial absorption by adobe brick of two different densities.
Nothing was found in the test pit.
2. Test Pit 2. This was for the purpose of checking for any
possible extension of foundation from the Priests' House. Also, we
had hoped at this point to intersect a foundation or walkway of the
Adobe Church. Negative results were obtained.
3. Test Pit 3. This was a re-examination of Feature 17 of
Bennyhoff and Elsasser in order to determine if this was the wall
of the Adobe Chapel as they had earlier suggested, or if it was just
the extension of an inner partition of the Priests' House.  An
extended foundation indicated the latter to be the case.
4. Test Pit 4. This was placed at the end of the present
gateway in order to determine if the foundation of the Priests'
Hou-se continued in an easterly direction. Positive evidence of a
foundation does indicate a continuation of this structure.
E. Bulldozed Areas.
InI archaeology it is generally considered unorthodox to use
mechanical equipment to unearth scientific specimens.  Often it is
the information around the specimen and the conditions under which
it is found that are as revealing as the object itself. At Sonoma
Mission, however, we were faced with limited time and relatively
large areas to examine. Our problem was to explore as fully as
possible the subsurface of the courtyard contained within the
present limits of State ownership. For this purpose the bulldozer
served as the ideal aid. Even though in most cases the sampled
areas showed negative results, these nevertheless were part of the
necessary information.
F. Whitewash.
Of interest here was the discovery of a large mass of what
appeared t9 be calcined wood ash on the floor of Building C just
within the area suggested as a doorway. Close examination of this
material proved it to be burned sea shell, representing at least
five different species of shell.  The types of shell, mostly vari-
ants of mussel and clam, are characteristic of the composition of
Indian shellmounds along the coast. It is probable that these
shells, derived from Indian sites, were reduced by fire to a form
of lime suitable for either mortar or whitewash for the buildings.
A similar practice has already been documented for the Carmel
Mission, where shell was specifically burned for the production of
white wash (Harrington, 1945).
The location of the lime (shell) on the floor of Building C
indicates that it post-dates the building, but does not preclude
11
the idea that such a practice could have been carried on at an
earlier date at Sonoma Mission. At Sonoma the distance from the
coast preAented a considerable transportation problem. No local
commercial lime was available until after 1850, well into the
post-Mission period, and the sources of this lime  in the Tomales
Bay area, were poor in production (Treganza, 1951$.
G. Adobe Pits.
The bulldozed area in the northwest corner of the courtyard
produced large irregular masses of almost pure adobe along with
fragmentary nodules. Here also, several pieces of worked obsidian,
of probable Indian origin, were uncovered. It is possible that
this area when further explored will reveal some evidence of brick
manufacture.  With considerable demand for such an item, it is
probable that sun dried bricks were made not too distant from the
Mission.
H. Artifacts.
In the 1954 excavation only those artifacts which had some
positive bearing on early Mission history were saved. This included
a cannon ball, a fragmeit of obsidian arrow head, and several ob-
-sidian scrapers. Both in digging and in bulldozing numerous
Caucasian artifacts were encountered in the form of broken glass,
porcelain, and metal fragments. None of these occur in strati-
graphic position, having earlier been dragged about through level-
ing activities.  In any case Bennyhoff and Elsasser saved- an
adequate sample of the latter in 1953 and their specimens, along
with what was recovered by us, are now on deposit in the University
of California Museum of Anthropology.
IV. THE MISSION INDIAN CEMETERY AND VITTAGE
Two problems not fully understood at the termination of the
1953 explorations were the location of the village or villages from
which the Indians were drawn into Mission life and the location of
the Indian cemetery.-
Though the field has not been fully explored, it is known to
have been a general practice in establishing California Missions to
select a site in near proximity to large Indian villages. This is
clearly demonstrated at Carmel Mission, where numerous sites are
located along the adjacent Carmel river and where part of the
Mission garden encroaches upon a historic Indian site.
At Sonoma a general survey was made from the present Mission
grounds back to the local Caucasian cemetery, along the lower border
of the hills, and around areas which earlier were flowing springs,
now capped and serving as pumping stations. No evidence of Indian
occupation was detected in any of these localities. Approximately
12
one quarter mile west of the town plaza a large mound rises to an
elevation of about five feet, having from a distance the appearance
of an aboriginal village site. This mound was examined in 1954 and
proved to be merely a natural rise which contains no evidence of
previous Indian occupation. Judging by glass and porcelain frag-
ments recovered, it might have served earlier as the site of some
historic dwelling.
Mr. Fred Oltman of the State Division of Beaches and Parks
called to our attention the presence of a mound of dark soil near
a former spring behind the Vallejo barn on the Old Vallejo Home site.
This proved to be an area of Indian occupation, and produced a large
hopper-mortar stone. This specimen subsequently was placed in the
Mission Museum collection.
The lack of Indian village sites in the near vicinity of the
Mission suggests that the Indian population utilized at the Mission
was probably drawn from the numerous -villages scattered along the
banks of Sonoma creek, but at some dLstance from the Mission.
Segregation at burial between Caucasian and Indian was apparently
a Mission practice. This is well illustrated at Mission Santa
Barbara, where rather extensive Chumash Indian cemeteries can be
identified as being definitely distinct from the burial plots of the
padres.
Until now the Indian cemetery at Sonoma has been unknown. It
was reported to us that about a half-mile northwest of the Vallejo
Home, on the property of Mrs. Mattie Parish, a number of Indian
skeletons had been removed. Examination of this area produced none
of the typical evidence of an aboriginal village or burial ground;
however, Mrs. Parish informed me she had exhumed some 28 skeletons
and all contained Caucasian artifacts, in the form of porcelain,
metal, glass, and trade beads. She had disposed of all the material
save one porcelain cup and some of the Indian trade beads typical
of the Mission period. The location of this reported cemetery on
the side of a hill in ground difficult to excavate is more charac-
teristic of Caucasian burial practice than that of California
Indians. This latter feature, along with the description of the
graves, including the extended position of the body, strongly sug-
gests that this may prove to be the site of the Indian cemetery
associated with the Sonoma Mission. This being the case, some
-action should be taken to prevent further disturbance in this area
as other graves may contain data pertinent to both the Mission and
Vallejo periods of occupation.
V. CONCLUSIONS
As nearly as can be determined, all those conclusions reached
by Bennyhoff and Elsasser as the result of their excavations in 1953
are essentially correct save in the details of the east end of the
13
Priests' House and the location of the Adobe Church.  The Priests'
House extends further to the east than they had realized, and the
Adobe Church, though still not positively located, must also be
farther to the east than earlier suggested.
Significant in the 1954 excavations was the discovery of
Building C in such a state of preservation that an accurate dimen-
sional ground plan could be obtained. It seems more than coincidence
that a line projected along the east wall of Building C toward the
Priests' House intersects lines projected east from the present
foundations of the latter at right angles, at the very point where,
if walls were present would be the east walls of rooms of the
exact size (10' x 17'S as known and earlier described by us (see
p. 6) for this east end of the Priests' House. These projected lines
may be clearly observed in Map 2, in which a reconstruction of the
Mission Quadrangle is presented.  With this alignment of Building C
and the Priests' House now known, it would seem to imply that the
Adobe Church is in the near vicinity but still east of the north-
south projected line. Only a small section of the fourth side of
the quadrangle exists as a hypothetical projection.  At the northeast
corner of the present Chapel we found evidence of a foundation in
line with the Chapel foundation (Map 1).0. It was reported by
interested persons in Sonoma that earlier, during landscaping, out-
side the present west wall of the courtyard, there appeared the
remains of a foundation which would be parallel to the one we
observed. On the basis of our positive data and the report of a
foundation we extended an imaginary line northward until it inter-
sected a line projected west from Building C. It is of great
interest that the 1854 groundplan of Sonoma Mission (Bennyhoff and
Elsasser, 1954:Fig. la) is a near duplicate of our Map 2 presenting
the reconstruction based upon archaeological evidence. The ruins
marked on the earlier ground plan become our Building C in the
.reconstruction.  To the author the evidence presented here is suf-
ficiently strong to justify the extension of State-owned land to
include the adjacent lands to the north and east. This would not
only make possible the completion of the original Mission Quadrangle
but would free the area for further explorations for auxiliary
structures which were probably adjacent to the Mission proper.
Demonstrated here is the fact that through archaeological
investigations both the real and potential resources of our State
monuments may be brought to light for further development and
preservation. It is most gratifying that the State Division of
Beaches and Parks has offered its financial support to projects of
this nature.
14
NOTES
(i) This report is based on archaeological investigations at
Sonoma Mission State Historical Monument from August 16
to September 1, 1954 carried out by the Department of
Anthropology of the University of California, under a con-
tract with the California State Department of Natural
Resources, Division of Beaches and Parks. The author wishes
to express his appreciation to Dr. Aubrey Neasham, whose
persistent interest in the preservation and reconstruction
of the historical landmarks of California has helped to make
a project such as this possible. I am indebted to Mr. Robert
S. Coon, Superintendent of State Park District 2, for pro-
viding adequate mechanical equipment, saving many man hours
for the more specialized work of technical archaeology. The
Museum staff of the Sonoma Mission was always willing to
help, especially Mr. Fred Oltman, whose interests in our
project far exceeded any demands of regular duty. From the
Department of Anthropology of the University of California
we received technical aid from Drs. R. F. Heizer and T. D.
McCown and from Messrs. J. A. Bennyhoff and A. B. Elsasser.
Dr. W. D. Hohenthal assisted in directing field work and I
am indebted to the following students from San Francisco
State College who performed the actual excavations: H.
Kinsey, M. Heicksen, K. Green. Also aiding were K. Fromberg
and C. Heathorn.
(2) Sonoma Mission was originally blessed as Mission San
Francisco de Solano.
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bennyhoff, James A. and Albert B. Elsasser
1954      Sonoma Mission: an historical and archaeological
study of primary constructions, 1823-1913. Report
of the University of California Archaeological Survey
No. 27. Berkeley.
Buettner-Janusch, J.
1954      Use of infrared photography in archaeological field
work. American Antiquity 20:84-87.
Harrington, M. R.
1945      Shell lime at Carmel Mission. Masterkey 19:70-73.
Treganza, Adan
1951      Old lime kilns near Olema. Geological guidebook of
the San Francisco Bay counties. State of California,
Division of Mines, Bulletin 154:65-72.
16
V1II EXPLANATION OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1. Tile walk and foundation ot Priests' House at southeast
corner of Mission Quadrangle. Feature 19, detail of
tile walk.
Figure 2. a. Ground plan of Building C.
b. Adobe brick pattern.
c. Interior tile pattern.
d. Door detail.
Plate 1.   a. Northwest corner of Building C showing tile floor and
foundation.
b.  Detail of interior tile around door. Building C.
c. Feature 18 showing cannon ball.
d. Feature 19 showing corner of tile walk at the north-
east corner of the Priests' House.
Plate 2.   a.  Tile interior at southwest end of Building C.
b.  Southwest corner of Building C showing interior tile,
foundation, and remnant of adobe bricks.
c. Northeast corner of Building C showing interior tile
and foundation.
d. Northwest corner of Building C showing interior tile
and foundation.
Plate 3.   a.  Adobe wall forming the south side of Building C.
b. Detail of adobe wall forming south side of Building C.
C. Detail of crushed roof tile forming the doorway
threshold of Building C.
d. Detail of adobe brick on foundation along south wall
of Building C.
Plate 4.   a.  Foundation of PriestsV House extending under present
east wall of Mission.
b. Interior tile Building C. Looking west.
17
Plate 4. (continued)
c. Interior tile Building C. Looking east.
Map 1.     General plan of excavations made during the summers of
1953 and 1954.
Map 2.     Reconstruction of the Mission San Francisco de Solano
Quadrangle.
18
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