This afternoon I attended Antonio Garra Day in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The event, which comes on the anniversary of Garra’s death, was organized by the Pala Band of Mission Indians. I listened to several speakers, including authors and historians, talk about Garra and historical events in the mid-1800s, and I watched different groups perform traditional Bird Songs and Dances.
Antonio Garra was a leader of the Cupeño people in Southern California who sought to organize tribes of our region to resist unfair taxation. Even though Native Americans were not citizens of the United States, a tax was levied upon their animals, property and agriculture. This taxation without representation was considered by many fair-minded people to be illegal and unjust.
Garra was educated at Mission San Luis Rey and could speak English, Spanish and Latin. He was an influential leader who opposed the ill-treatment of indigenous people. According to Wikipedia: “In 1851, because of several issues of conflict, Antonio Garra, a Cupeño from Warner’s Ranch, tried to organize a coalition of various Southern California Indian tribes to drive out all of the European Americans. His Garra Revolt failed, and settlers executed Garra. The Cupeño had attacked Warner and his ranch, burning some buildings.”
Garra was blamed for the murder of four people at Colonel Warner’s Rancho on November 22, 1850, and he was sentenced to be executed. On January 12, 1852, he was brought to the El Campo Santo cemetery in Old Town and told to kneel down beside a ready grave in front of a firing squad. He last words were: “Gentlemen, I ask your pardon for all my offenses and expect yours in return.”
Antonio Garra Day arose because of a Wanted poster that has long been displayed in the First San Diego Courthouse museum. The poster does not provide the full story of the Garra Uprising and the suffering of indigenous people. Today, a plaque beneath the poster provides more historical context.
Between performances of Bird Songs, which honored Native American ancestors, elders and Garra, I listened to the words of Patricia Nelson. She is a descendant of Antonio Garra. As a youth she was incensed by the cruel treatment of her people. Today, she works to honor and proudly remember those people, their culture, their lives and humanity.
Antonio Garra Day has grown over the past 4 or 5 years, and next year it will be a much larger event, filling the plaza of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, with many Native American participants from all around our region.
A display of Luiseño artifacts at the event, by the Wa$xayam Pomki Museum on the Rincon Reservation.
Garra and his people assisted weary immigrants who had crossed the desert. He also gave aid and comfort to General Kearney and his troops during the Mexican-American war.Bird Singers tell of the world’s creation and the first people.A crowd observes Antonio Garra Day at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
Wanted posters in the First San Diego Courthouse museum include one concerning Antonio Garra.The grave of Antonio Garra in Old Town San Diego’s El Campo Santo cemetery.
A horse came to Old Town for the event. Its rider (not visible) represented Juan Verdugo, who participated in the Garra Uprising and was executed. He is also buried at El Campo Santo cemetery.Patricia Nelson, a descendant of Antonio Garra, talks about her memories, many generations of her people, and their lives.Bird Song and Dance honor a people who lived in our region many thousands of years before the arrival in 1769 of Spanish missionaries and soldiers.
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The 250th Anniversary of San Diego is being celebrated this year.
In 1769 a Spanish expedition established El Presidio Reál de San Diego atop a hill near the San Diego River, along with the original Mission San Diego de Alcalá.
San Diego, however, didn’t become a city of any real significance until the late 19th century.
For a city that is relatively young, San Diego today enjoys remarkable cultural diversity. Much of this diversity is due to our close ties and overlapping history with Mexico. Much also comes from the variety of immigrants who have settled in and helped to build our growing city.
In the past, Cool San Diego Sights has featured many posts about cultural diversity in San Diego’s history.
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Most of the traditional Día de los Muertos decorations have been put away.
In the small El Campo Santo cemetery, marigolds are all that remain.
According to Mexican tradition, marigolds, with their color and scent, guide spirits back to the living.
El Campo Santo (The Holy Field) is where many of San Diego’s earliest residents were buried. Marigolds on graves remind the living that those who founded our city are still with us.
To learn more about some of the people laid to rest in Old Town’s historic El Campo Santo cemetery, click here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Silly creatures greet hungry, fun-loving people in front of Dr. Freeze Amazing Desserts!
During my walk around Old Town on Saturday, I stumbled upon a couple of very colorful sights. I believe both of these are relatively new. At least, I don’t recall seeing either before!
A colorful mural decorates one side of a building at the Harold J. Ballard Parent Center. Images are of nature and Kumeyaay culture. Created by @ronald.paints and @artreachsd.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Representatives of many communities come together during Old Town San Diego’s Founders Day to celebrate our city’s diverse history.
Founders Day is being celebrated in Old Town this weekend. The unique Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce event, which is inspired by our city’s 250th anniversary, is being held along San Diego Avenue, just south of the State Park.
I walked around at noontime today and took photos!
The colorful Founders Day festival will continue tomorrow. There will be street vendors and music and dancing and a whole lot of history to experience. If you can, head to Old Town San Diego and check it out!
San Diego Avenue was full of color and activity during my walk on the Saturday of Founders Day weekend.A banner on an Old Town lamp post remembers the year 1769, when Junípero Serra founded a Spanish mission in San Diego.This musician smiled for a blogger who happened to walk by.The San Diego Model A Ford Club had lots of vintage cars on display during the event.Root beer floats could be enjoyed at this outdoor Western saloon!The San Diego History Center had a display detailing important moments in San Diego’s 250 year history.Early people, events and developments in San Diego’s history include the native Kumeyaay, the Spanish arrival, and the establishment of Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769.Frontier musicians play banjo, guitar and washboard.Historical reenactors from Old Town’s African Latin Museum participated in Founders Day.SDSU Archaeology had a table near the Whaley House Museum.San Diego State University Archaeology students once excavated behind the Whaley House, and found many interesting artifacts.Uncovered artifacts included bottles and various household items common in early San Diego.Write Out Loud had their Poe and Twain puppets roaming about during the cool event!Diverse people come together during Founders Day to celebrate our city’s complex and uniquely fascinating 250 years of history. During the opening ceremony, words of optimism were expressed for the future!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The Old Town San Diego Foundation is raising funds so that Fourth Grade students across San Diego County can continue taking educational field trips to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The San Diego History Program helps kids learn about San Diego’s unique, culturally diverse early history. But financial assistance is urgently needed!
I found out about this program today while walking about Old Town’s Founders Day event. I learned thousands of students have been fortunate to enjoy these field trips in past years. Fourth graders visit Old Town’s interactive museums and enjoy special docent led tours.
The nice folks of the Old Town San Diego Foundation explained that without this program, many young people would probably never visit the birthplace of San Diego and California.
Often kids who participate are so amazed by what they discover, they bring their families back to Old Town! How cool is that?
But funds are now needed to continue this program.
Please visit the Old Town San Diego Foundation website here to learn more.
And please visit the “4th Graders Need Your Help” GoFundMe page here to make your contribution! Donations are 100% tax deductible.
(I know that some educators follow this blog. Spread the word!)
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Giant puppets representing Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe roam Old Town San Diego State Historic Park during 2019 TwainFest!
Today I enjoyed one of my very favorite San Diego events. I headed to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park for a celebration of great writing and reading at 2019 TwainFest!
Literature is the focus of this annual festival–the most famous 19th century literature and writers in particular. Produced by Write Out Loud, TwainFest features live readings, performances, period music and costumes, games, and a variety of fun activities for the entire family.
Kids not only develop an appreciation for classic books, but they experience the joy of creativity!
Here comes a tall Mark Twain puppet walking through Old Town San Diego!A noon parade circles the Old Town plaza during 2019 TwainFest, where great writers and reading are celebrated!Many characters in 19th century period costume could be spotted at the annual event.Musical entertainment on the main stage. Fiesta de Reyes presents TwainFest by Write Out Loud. Laughter, Levity and Literature.This salty Captain Swordfish might have been an acquaintance of Moby Dick author Herman Melville. He has been joined by Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen.I met poet Walt Whitman, who told me this is his first time at TwainFest.One of many fun games at TwainFest. Spinning the Wheel of Fiction, in order to solve a literary clue.Characters and scenes from Mark Twain’s stories could be colored, like The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.Anyone could walk up, grab a marker, and help write several Never Ending Stories.A performance of a magical folk tale in the Japanese Kamishibai tradition.Lively music from 19th century San Diego adds life to the cultural event.Some fun musical accompaniment nearby.Kids were learning how to play drums and the fife.The young and the young at heart could play Victorian era games on the grass, including wheelbarrow races, sack races, egg races and the game of graces.A crazy wheelbarrow race is underway. It’s hard not to fall out when your driver abruptly turns!Visitors to TwainFest could learn how to make simple books by folding paper and applying fancy cover designs with a glue stick.Of course, a literature themed event must include lots of classic books.Shelves full of books!Some history reenactors had set up a Civil War era field encampment.Union soldiers in uniform appear at attention.The nearby Headquarters Post Office contained more costumed participants.A working telegraph was on display.While walking about, I noticed many smiling people handing out TwainFest programs. (I’m sure Write Out Loud always welcomes new volunteers.)Stories were being told at the Casa de Estudillo about immigrants, the descendants of early California, and the road to women’s suffrage.At the Old Town Courthouse Museum, people could take a literacy test to see whether they could vote in the election of 1872.Political illustrations and cartoons from print over a century ago.Young people were enjoying a Mad Hatter tea party, with Alice and other Wonderland characters!It appeared that some people had already painted Tom Sawyer’s fence with whitewash!Is that the Red Queen or the Queen of Hearts? I get them confused.Don’t be an idiom. (You probably don’t want to be an oxymoron either.)More dramatic words were being read inside Old Town’s one room Mason Street Schoolhouse. I recognized those funny wart-cure passages from Tom Sawyer.A puppet show delights kids in Old Town’s plaza.The smiles and good times live on and on during TwainFest……thanks in part to this amiable if somewhat satirical fellow.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The Westwind Brass Ensemble plays in Old Town’s plaza during an 1800’s Fourth of July.
Today a good crowd turned out for a festive 4th of July in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!
Every year this event provides a taste of what Independence Day would have been like in the 19th century. Fourth of July celebrations in San Diego would have officially commenced in 1848 when the small town became part of the United States.
If you remember some photographs that I posted three years ago, you might notice the event hasn’t changed much. But I love the color and history and the public participation so much I decided to go once again!
Many came out to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to enjoy an old-fashioned Independence Day.The Old Town 4th of July offered entertainments that would have been common in the 19th century, after San Diego became part of the United States.Boosters of Old Town San Diego Historic Park raise money by selling sliced watermelon and pies.Members of the San Pasqual Battlefield Volunteer Association had a tent with historical displays.Photos or reenacted history near San Diego, including the Battle of San Pasqual during the Mexican–American War.A family at Old Town’s Fourth of July event learns all about spinning yarn.Members of the Historic Quilt Guild had some of their beautiful handiwork on display.These kids were making stuff with beads.Kids have fun with hoops on the grass. Simple play from an age long past.A sack race has everyone laughing.This friendly guy near the blacksmith shop was making an ax handle.Families were peering into the active blacksmith shop.Talking about how iron was shaped in Old Town San Diego in the 19th century.All sorts of nostalgic music and dances and contests entertained the crowd.Handing out small American flags to those in the audience.The keynote address reminds everyone of the meaning of Independence Day.Old Glory readied to be raised on the plaza flagpole.
Diverse people in period costume read segments of the Declaration of Independence. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Several people attending the event also volunteered to go on stage to read portions of the Declaration of Independence.A patriotic parade for the Fourth of July commences around Old Town San Diego’s historic plaza.
Everyday ordinary Americans are invited to join the parade.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
A small group on a free walking tour learns about the history of Old Town San Diego.
A free walking tour of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is available every day at 11 am and 2 pm. The tours meet in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center, at the northwest end of Old Town’s large grassy plaza. (UPDATE! In late 2022, post-COVID, the tours were being offered Thursday and Friday at 11 am. Times are subject to change!)
When I visit Old Town San Diego, I’ll sometimes join the walking tour while it’s in progress. Last weekend I happened to be in front of the Robinson-Rose House right at eleven o’clock, so I decided to enjoy the full one hour tour!
During this easy walk a guide in period costume provides fascinating information about San Diego’s early history. Several different periods are covered, from the Spanish mission period, to the Mexican rancho period, to the early American period. The main interpretive period is 1821 to 1872.
Among the following photos are a few interesting bits of history…
Free walking tours begin daily at 11 and 2 in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Inside the Robinson-Rose House visitors can view a large model behind glass. It shows what Old Town San Diego looked like in 1872.The tour guide leads our group out into Old Town’s historic Plaza de las Armas.We learn that the Native American Kumeyaay village of Cosoy was located right here, long before Old Town was established.
The Native American Kumeyaay village of Cosoy was located where Old Town San Diego’s plaza was established. Before the San Diego River was diverted in 1877, its water ran very close to Old Town and was an integral part of the life of early people in our desert-like Southern California coastal region.
Our tour now heads toward restored buildings that stand on the southwest side of the plaza.We enter Casa de Machado y Silvas, where today visitors can view the small Commercial Restaurant museum.Our tour guide talks about tiny San Diego during the Mexican rancho period. Trade goods were acquired from merchant ships in exchange for cattle hides, which were called California Banknotes.
When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the Spanish soldiers of the nearby San Diego Presidio switched their allegiance to Mexico, which couldn’t afford to pay them. For their service, they were given land at the foot of Presidio Hill, where many soldiers and their families built houses. That is how Old Town started.
You can learn more about La Casa de Machado y Silvas and the fascinating Commercial Restaurant museum here.
We head back outside into the plaza.We learn more about the history of Old Town by the unusual, tall flagpole.Old Town’s flagpole resembles a ship’s mast!
You might notice the flagpole at the center of Old Town’s Plaza looks a lot like a ship’s mast. Because originally it was!
When an American force under Captain Samuel F. DuPont sailed into San Diego Bay in 1846 to take control of Old Town unopposed, the plaza had no flagpole, because most of the independent-minded Californios who lived here didn’t feel a strong attachment to Mexico. So a ship’s mast was used to raise the flag of the United States.
You can see a bronze plaque commemorating the event here.
You can learn more about the old Spanish cannon that sits in the middle of Old Town’s plaza near the flagpole here.
We head toward a tree that stands near the Colorado House.This is where the Franklin House hotel once stood.
A vacant area of ground beside the Colorado House (now home of the Wells Fargo Museum) is where the Franklin House hotel used to stand. It was Old Town’s only three story building, notable for its relative elegance and its baths.
The Franklin House was destroyed during the great fire of 1872 along with several adjacent buildings including Old Town’s courthouse, ensuring that San Diego’s future would be located in Alonzo Horton’s New Town, which was then called Horton’s Addition.
To learn more about San Diego’s first courthouse, click here.
To learn more about Colorado House and the Wells Fargo Museum, click here.
We head toward a beautifully restored adobe house that stands alone behind the plaza buildings.Entering the grounds of La Casa de Machado y Stewart Museum.Many artifacts are displayed in the main living room of La Casa de Machado y Stewart. An adjacent bedroom is where parents and daughters slept. The sons slept outside in San Diego’s temperate climate.
Our tour group then walked over to Casa de Machado y Stewart. We learned many things, including the fact that the fancier china seen on the dining table came by merchant ships that crossed the Pacific from Asia.
The more simple items like candlesticks were made by local blacksmiths. Because iron was rare in San Diego, harpoons from a brief period of whaling in San Diego Bay were used to make a variety of furnishings and household utensils.
You can learn more about the Casa de Machado y Stewart here.
You can learn about Old Town’s blacksmith shop here.
We also learned that the art of brick-making was introduced to Old Town by members of the Mormon Battalion, whose arrival in San Diego you can learn about here.
The outdoor oven was made of clay and adobe bricks. Cow manure provided fuel!The garden outside La Casa de Machado y Stewart not only provided vegetables for eating, but native herbs used for medicine.Our tour guide explains the uses of prickly pear. The cochineal beetle found on prickly pears is used to make red dye. That plant you see is about 150 years old!Finally, we head over to the beautiful, iconic Casa de Estudillo.The courtyard of the U-shaped Casa de Estudillo includes a simple fountain at the center.Sitting on wooden benches, learning more about San Diego’s unique early history.
The walking tour concluded inside the courtyard of La Casa de Estudillo. In many respects, this beautiful house is the centerpiece of Old Town San Diego. Two past blog posts provide a great deal of information about La Casa de Estudillo.
You can peer into the house’s restored rooms and learn about their history here.
You can learn how a wildly popular novel saved this historic building from destruction here!
The walking tour is over. Now visitors to Old Town San Diego can roam wherever they fancy, and visit numerous free museums scattered around the plaza.
Finally, to enjoy a good overview of San Diego’s early history, I recommend a visit to Old Town’s excellent McCoy House Museum. You can check out my blog post featuring its many exhibits by clicking here!
UPDATE!
It’s not free anymore! I learned in December of 2025 that the same walking tour costs $10 for adults and $5 for children. I was told the change was made about a month ago.
The tour times have changed, too. They now start at 10 and 11:30 am and 2 and 3:30 pm.
You still meet at the Robinson-Rose Visitor Center.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
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