The Bells

You may have seen these bells marking the El Camino Real (the Royal Road) throughout California. I saw this one near Harbor Island. The bells mark the 600 mile trail of the California Missions. On the bell it says Loreto Oct 25, 1697 and Solano July 4, 1823. The Loreto Mission in Baja California was the earliest successful Mission aka the "head and mother of all the Spanish missions in Upper and Lower California". The Solano Mission in Sonoma, California is the northernmost Mission and the last to be established.