My brother and his Hispanic wife were married at the San
Gabriel Mission. He and his children were baptized there.
My sister-in-law’s mom has volunteered thousands of hours
of service there.
It’s a very important revered place to the Hispanic people
in the region.
The last time I was there I ran into a Native American
there and talked to him and his friend for a half hour
or more.
We touched on the history of the colonizers in the region
and his thoughts on them.
His comments to me were this. He looks at the Hispanic,
and Native American improvements on the they owned here
and in Mexico, and compares it to what the colonizers did
with the land they have today.
In his opinion, there was no question about who improved
their space more.
I asked him to be frank with me, and told him I wouldn’t
take offense. I just wanted to hear his thoughts on
things.
He was a really down to earth nice person.
I’m not convinced this was arson, but three of the
California Missions have burned recently, so you can
pretty well take it from there.
This mission was undergoing some restoration / repair
work, so it is possible it wasn’t arson. I’m still betting
it was arson.
And investigation is under way.
If it was arson, the people who did it and some of the
most ignorant people breathing.
