Three weeks ago on Sunday March 3rd, I was riding with three tough Canadian horse women, two of them trainers, in a dense forest in British Columbia. We galloped through the forest, the horses busting through fallen branches with their chests. These women were some of the toughest, bravest riders I had ever ridden with. Being far from Moon Valley Ranch, I decided to tell them the story of the strange matching of me and my horse through Deb. And I asked the question, why?
One of them said simply: ‘your trainer knew that horse would not hurt you and would teach you how to ride. She knew your horse’. The question I had been asking myself for fourteen years had been answered. As obvious as it was, it was a matter of me really believing it which I finally did because of who it came from. Hours later Daisy called to tell me that Deb had just passed away that same day. My heart and Daisy’s were broken, as were hundreds of other hearts she had touched over the years. Two days ago Deb’s memorial was attended by those hundreds of people, so many they spilled out of the chapel into the parking lot. I could write pages and pages about Deb, but instead, I am including a eulogy given by one of her oldest dearest friends, Loren Keeley.

PIRATES

When I learned of Deb’s passing, I knew a huge tidal wave of sorrow was about to wash over myself,
her family, friends and the community. That wave picked me up and slammed me down on a hard packed
shore. I wanted to stay there down on my knees. Days passed before I could crawl back to warm soft
sands.

Deb was like the tides, sometimes low, sometimes high, and always unpredictable. She was the captain
of our ship. She had many crews over the years and many voyages were taken. There were those years when some of us got to be her pirates. She laid our our treasure maps, slowly gave us clues and guided
us to what we all desired. The booty, the chest of jewels, the pot at the end of the rainbow was how she
guided us to the horse’s heart. She was the captain of our dreams. Our only job was to keep our eyes open and on the horizon.

Like any captain worth their salt, she grew restless when the seas were too calm, sometimes seeking out
a good storm. She liked the feel of trying to climb that huge wave as it crests over then plunges down the backside. There were times that she seemed magic and could navigate by the stars, and times when she
she was lost at sea. Like any crew worth their salt we sometimes had to hang on for dear life and throw each other a line. At times we had to steer her back to a softer current. We did this willingly and with a loyalty that came easily. We would have sailed anywhere with her and we did.

Oh captain my captain, my friend, my teacher and my partner in crime, I hope when I need to lay my hand on a trembling horse, I will know with out a doubt that it goes from my heart, to my head and through my body.  I hope that I will still hear from you from time to time that way.  I hope that you have landed in paradise.  I hope that it is warm. I hope the fruit is plentiful and the ponies are swift. I hope that you have found peace.  I hope that you are proud of us. It was such an honor to be your first mate. Until we sail again, I will miss you my old friend.

A handsome quantity of yummy & thirst-quenching 'Alfalfa Water' is prepared in the kitchen of the Hacienda Sepulveda in the Mexican region of Xalisco.

HELLOOOOOO! Anybody out there? All at The California Mission Ride is on the quiet side just now. I think everyone is storing up energy for the long 2013 journey.  Some event plans are beginning to take shape for the trail ride from Mission San Miguel to the border of Mexico.

Speaking of the latter, winter seems like a good time to post a recipe from Mexico that will warm your bones and put a zesty smile on your face.

This traditional recipe from the region of Xalisco, Mexico, was given to me María Serrano, who lives in Xalisco at Hacienda San Rafael. She says the recipe has been used in her family since the Spanish arrived in Mexico, and recommends serving the tea in a ceramic cup like the one she uses at home (see her cup in the photo).

ORANGE LEAF TEA

Ingredients:

One orange leaf

Boiling Water

(serves 1)

Orange Leaf Tea at the Hacienda San Rafael in Xalisco, Mexico, served in María Serrano's pretty ceramic cup. She likes to drink the tea early in the morning, before breakfast.

Go out to your garden and pluck a large leaf from your orange tree. If you don’t have an orange tree, you can use a leaf from your local grocery shop or market; just be sure that the fruit hasn’t been treated with pesticides.  Rinse the leaf off in fresh running water and then pat it dry with a towel.  Preheat your teacup: just add some boiling water to it and let it sit for a moment; then pour the water out.  Fill the cup with boiling water.  Add your orange leaf and let it infuse the water with natural oils and flavors for 5 minutes.  Take a moment to enjoy the magical scent rising from your teacup.  Your Orange Leaf Tea is ready to drink!

The other recipe takes a little more work. It’s a for a refreshing and wholesome beverage made from fresh alfalfa.  If anyone is interested, please write to us on our Facebook page (just click the Facebook icon on this website, down on the left hand side of the screen) and I’ll get on the case pronto.

This special guest post will be of  interest to K-12 teachers who are looking for an exciting opportunity in July of 2013 to gain new insights into California’s past and to visit key sites, including Spanish and Native American missions of California’s Central Coast.   If you are a K-12 teacher, read on.  And if you know a teacher who could be interested, please send them a link to this post!

Early in the New Year, we’ll be posting more about our 2013 plans for The California Mission Ride from Mission San Miguel to Mission San Diego de Alcalá. We hope to begin the 2013 journey on Mission San Miguel’s fiesta day in September.  Check back soon for more about our schedule and the unique events that are shaping up along the mission trail.

Leslie

Sanctuary of the Old Mission Church of San Juan Bautista in California. Photograph copyright Ruben G. Mendoza, 2011

The 14^th Colony: An NEH Summer Workshop for K-12 Teachers

By Ruben Mendoza, Jewel Gentry, and Jennifer Lucido 

We are presently recruiting a diverse cohort of eighty K-12 teachers from across the country to participate in a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for School Teachers, K-12.  Teachers selected for this NEH workshop devoted to studying California’s Spanish colonial missions will receive a $1200 stipend for their stay on the Monterey Bay, and will be afforded opportunities for professional development, collegial interaction, and access to fellow educators.

We are thrilled to host the NEH American Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers summer program on the Monterey Bay.  This program will consist of historic Missions landmarks tours, art history and indigenous food and culture orientations, and traditional craft and technology demonstrations presented by community scholars, museum curators, musicians, and leading scholars of California and Southwest mission studies.

The “Fourteenth Colony” is devoted to the exploration of the Spanish colonial missions of California’s storied Monterey Bay.  Two six-day residential workshops for K-12 school teachers will span the weeks of July 7 through 13, and July 13 through 19, 2013.  The workshops address the tumultuous and often controversial era of The Fourteenth Colony: California Indians, Missions, Presidios, and Colonists on the Hispanic Frontier, 1769-1848.

Newly restored facade of the Mission church of San Miguel Arcángel in California. Photograph copyright Ruben G. Mendoza, 2010.

We will treat participants to guided tours and demonstrations within the historic California landmarks of San Juan Bautista, San Miguel, San Antonio, San Carlos Borromeo, and the Royal Presidio of Monterey. Over the course of six days a stellar group of regional and national specialists in Spanish mission and Native Californian studies, including internationally and regionally renowned experts and community scholars, will lead key lectures and discussions.

We will convene our workshops on the beautiful Monterey Bay at the Asilomar Conference grounds. A National Register of Historic Places landmark, Asilomar is located within the forested coastal environs of Pacific Grove . Asilomar and the Monterey Bay thereby provide an incomparable setting for exploring European-American Indian contact, as well as the subsequent Spanish Mission and Mexican eras, and early American developments of the region.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for either Workshop 1 (July 7 – 13, 2013), or Workshop 2 (July 13 – 19, 2013). Please note, however, that though minor differences in speakers’ schedules may distinguish Workshops 1 and 2, the Workshops are otherwise structured alike. See our website for further information on how to apply. For additional workshop-related questions please feel free to email us at info@ThisOldMission.org.

Pete Andresen stands behind Leslie to prevent her from being blown backwards as she takes her first shot with a Brown Bess Musket

The Swiss Rifle Club is the oldest rifle club in America, founded by a group of immigrants from Switzerland’s Canton Ticino in 1900.  Our host there was club member Peter Andreson, who introduced us to the Brown Bess Musket.  Pete explained that these flintlock muskets were of British origin (used for nearly a hundred years during the expansion of the British Empire) and employed in California up through the mid-nineteeth century.  He showed us how the musket is loaded with gunpowder, which has to be packed down with a special tool, and then how the ammunition is dropped into the barrel. He said that a good soldier would be able to load and shoot the musket three times in one minute.

Some members of our group were not eager to shoot, mainly from a general aversion to firearms.  But a few of us took the plunge, not least to see what it’s like to fire a musket, and to understand what period shooters went through when they used these weapons.

One surprise for me was how far you can get knocked backwards when shooting the Brown Bess.  When the shot went off, it felt like someone was shoving me really hard.  Knowing it was my first time shooting a long gun, not to mention a flintlock musket, Pete stood behind me to keep me from getting slammed too far back and falling over.

Another factor is the loud sound produced by the explosion of the gunpowder.  I wore earplugs, and some others wore special muffs that fully cover the ears.  At one point, when CMR cameraman Nuno was shooting, one of my earplugs had fallen out; the explosion from his shot sounded super powerful, like it was going right through the unprotected eardrum to shake up the inside of my head.  There’s also a lot of smoke from the gunpowder.  While our brief exposure to the smoke didn’t leave any notable traces, parts of Pete’s hands are permanently stained very dark from his many years of handling such firearms.

Rod was unable to join for the Rifle Club outing as he was working on shoes for the horses that day.  But Troy, who has a strong interest in

Professor Rubén Mendoza sports the uniform of a Mexican soldado as he fires his musket

period weaponry, took five shots and gained a good sense of how to adjust his aim for the target that Pete had set up.  Professor Rubén Mendoza, who had helped organize this outing, also took 5 shots, and he shot while wearing the period uniform of a soldier from the Mexican California era.  The uniform accurately includes broad red cuffs, which were used in the day to help conceal blood stains around the soldiers’ hands and lower arms!  Rubén noted that the heavy clothing seemed an extra burden in the heat; it was a fairly hot day there on the range, with temps near 80 degrees.

Gwyneth nails a -0 at the target's center with her one shot using the Brown Bess Musket at the Monterey County Swiss Rifle Club

Gwyneth and I took only one shot each, and we both had -0 hits right off!  This could have been luck, although Pete insisted that women generally — not just Annie Oakley — tend naturally to be better shots than men for unexplained reasons, so maybe it was a gender thing?   In any case, being a musket-shooting soldier was clearly not an enviable job, even if some soldiers eventually rose to gain positions as high-ranking officers.  Muskets are hard to load and handle. They are loud. They knock you around.  They aren’t super accurate, and only really work at close range.  Plus they were known to misfire.

Thanks to Pete Andresen for introducing members of The California Mission Ride team to the Brown Bess Musket, and for this special glimpse into the world of the early California solider. Thanks also to Pete for these photographs of our morning at the Monterey County Swiss Rifle Club.

Below is a picture taken yesterday, when our passports were stamped in Soledad.  We’re about to saddle up to head to Mission San Antonio de Padua, and then from there on to Mission San Miguel — our last two missions for the 2012 ride!

Mission Soledad volunteer Nancy Morrison stamps our passports in the mission's gift shop!

Could you tell us about the ancestral homeland of the Salinan Indians?  Which area does it cover, and how many Salinans live there today?

The Tribal boundary south is Cuesta Grade, west to Pacific ocean, (we share Morro Rock with the Chumash as a sacred place), north to Dolan Rock below Big Sur, eastward  below Soledad, then southeast to Painted Rock on the Carrizo Plains.

We did a count that showed over 80% of Tribal members live either in or within 70 miles of the homeland.

How long have the Salinan people been on this land?  And how many different groups exist now within the tribe?

Scholars say that the Salinan people have been in the area 6,000 years and belong to the Hokan language group, one of the oldest in California.  The Salinan language was divided into three dialects:  Antoniano, around Mission San Antonio. Migueleno around Mission San Miguel and Playano spoken on the coast.  These three, even though different, shared the same Hokan base so communicated easily.

You are a descendant of the Playaño Salinans.  I see that this branch of Salinans is often described as extinct.  Then again, the entire tribe was reportedly extinct, according to the U.S. government – was that in the U.S. Federal Census of 1930?

This is a good example of “Don’t believe everything you read.”  Between 1928 and 1933, the California Indian Census was taken and many Indians hiding as “Mexican, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Chilean, etc.,” came out” into a safer, less discriminating world. This census also exposed the “Indian Wanna-bes”.  Researching this era was quite interesting.  Mission records state where the individual originates.  Ours plainly says,“ near the coast.”

Which Spanish and Native American missions of California played a key part in the lives of your ancestors?

Initially, Mission San Antonio.  Then, as colonization developed, Missions San Jose and Santa Clara recorded my ancestor’s activity.  The “leather jacket” soldiers from the Presidios were transferred and assigned duties all over occupied California and their families followed.  All of my family are recorded in mission records from Mission San Antonio northward with the exception of Ignacio Rochin who was executed at Santa Barbara. [See Suzanne Pierce Taylor’s book “The Ancestors Speak,” pages 67-68).

Is there one mission in particular that has been most important to you? Why?

This certainly is Mission San Antonio de Padua in the Valley of The Oaks. It is where my family’s story comes full circle, beginning and ending there.  At the mission, on the left wall of the portico leading into the church, is a faded mural telling of the first marriage in California.  That is the marriage of my 6 greats-grandparents.  The bride Margarita de Cortona, is the granddaughter of Agata Maria.

The Salinan Tribe website notes that your tribal leaders include a Contemporary Lead, currently Gary Pierce, and a Traditional Lead, currently John Burch.  Which basic issues does each cover?  How are leaders chosen?

Contemporary Lead:  Legal, public relations, publicity, guides council meetings, etc.

The Traditional Lead:  history, cultural, etc.

Leaders and council are voted in after they’re proven qualified.

Could you tell us about one or two traditional ceremonies, games, or toys that are popular among young Salinans?

The young people have a group that sings traditional songs on special occasions.  Some are learning to drum. 

Sadly we have not been financially able to acquire materials from the Smithsonian to rebuild our culture.

While researching and scouting for The California Mission Ride, we’ve learned that over the generations since the Spanish colonial era, many Mission Indians came to be identified, or identified themselves, as Hispanics, in part because their colonizers had taught them to speak Spanish and urged them to embrace Spanish ways of life.  But we’ve also learned that recently, more and more Native Americans in the mission areas of California have begun to acknowledge or rediscover their Indian ancestry and traditions. How do you view the historic Hispanicization of Indians? How has it affected the Salinan Tribe in particular?

I will quote from my book “The transition was accomplished by systematically replacing the precious cultural heritage of the Salinans, which the priests saw only as undesirably pagan, with that of their own European thinking.  The priests could not appreciate the natural, beautiful freedom of the people.  Forbidden to speak their language or practice their culture, and lacking a written language to preserve a record of it, after a few generations, much of the early Salinan culture was lost to them and us forever.

With the founding of missions in the Salinan homeland well over 200 years ago, Salinan Indians were urged to adopt Spanish culture.  The Spanish crown hoped to gain the loyalty of Indians of Alta California who could help defend the Spanish Empire against perceived threats, notably from Russia as hunters and traders from there began to settle in California, and to encroach on Spanish territory.  Later, with the Gold Rush of 1849, and with California joining the U.S. in 1850, Salinans encountered a very different situation.  Could you tell us about the impact the Gold Rush and Californian statehood on the Salinan people of that period?

Their lands confiscated by the mission system, after secularization, under the Mexican regime the same history of devaluation, oppression and injustices continued.  It grimly affected the Salinan People.  For a second time what had been their tribal territories were taken from them and they were forced to become squatters on their ancestral homeland.  Gold and Statehood brought with them an overwhelming influx of strangers and a bigoted governor who stated,”This war (eradication of Indians) will continue until there are none left.”  He did his best but we are still here and he isn’t!

You are the author of The Ancestors Speak, a book that looks at your own ancestry as well as tribal ancestry. How did this project begin, and how did you research the book?  Where do you find the most important records in order to reconstruct Salinan family trees and histories?

The project began with my love of nature and the simple things of  life.  Old family photos and letters shared with me by a cousin inspired me to record our history in a book.  As I learned more I wanted all to know and appreciate the ancestors, to honor their lives, all that they endured and the sacrifices they made for future generations, for us.  To know our ancestors better is to know ourselves better, we are the sum of them. So I let the ancestors speak!   Years of reading California history and  Mission records were invaluable sources.

While working on your book, what were some of the surprising discoveries you made about your family?

I was surprised that my paternal Grandma Kate, a direct descendant of Salinans Agata Maria and Margarita de Cortona, had five families that came to California with Anza in 1776.  One became an early mayor of San Jose.  They were colonists that made the long arduous trek on foot from Mexico  to a “promised land,” much like the covered wagon pioneers.  They all made contributions to California’s history.

Did preparing your book change the way you see the past, your family, or the tribe in general?  In which ways has your outlook shifted?

It hasn’t shifted.

For our Trail Blog readers who would like to read your book, what is the best way to obtain a copy?

I will have copies with me for sale.  They are available at the mission gift shop also.

When we meet you at Mission San Antonio de Padua, you and Susan Latta (a Tribal Council member and fellow Elder) will lead a special tour of the mission’s Indian cemetery. What can you tell us about the people buried at this site?

I must confess that the cemetery has never been the center of my attention. The ancestors buried their dead wherever it was easy to dig.  Prominent ones were cremated then buried.  My great-great-grandmother is buried in the mission garden under an ancient pear tree but I have no relatives in the cemetery that I’m aware of.  I’m sure that Susan Latta knows a lot and I’ll become better informed before we meet.

What are some of the facts about the cemetery’s history that you find most important for Salinan people today?

The cemetery is a Catholic custom.  It is important to those who are Catholic.  In ancient times, the dead were buried, possessions and shelter were burned and after a period of mourning their names were never mentioned again.

The Salinan cemetery at Mission San Antonio de Padua is surrounded by an impressive adobe wall.  Is this the original structure?

Like the mission and its surrounding, it had to be rebuilt and undergoes repairs.  The tribe is scheduled to make adobe bricks to repair the walls surrounding the cemetery 20^th September.

The Salinan Tribe has not been recognized by the U.S. government, even as the tribe has gained recognition by the state of California.  You have been directly involved in the tribe’s petition to the federal government.  Could you describe some of the work you have done to support this effort?

I did all the initial genealogical research on each tribal member.  My cousin charted as I provided information.  Together we set up the first membership roll for the tribe.  It took parts of three years.

How long has it been since the Salinan Tribe has actively sought federal recognition?

Since 1993.

Are there special circumstances of California’s history that have made it more difficult for the state’s Native Peoples to establish tribal legitimacy in the eyes of the U.S. government? I mean compared with tribes of other regions such as the Plains or the Southwest.

The way California’s aborigines were organized, tribes were composed of triblets, which were composed of villages, which were composed of family groups which were composed of moieties.  The most important thing was boundaries.  Children learned tribal boundaries from infancy in stories and song.  This was the food source, food was gathered only within tribal grounds. I explain more in my book.

The Salinan Tribe hopes to be federally recognized in seasons ahead.  What will change most immediately for the tribe once recognition has been granted?

We will become a sovereign nation within The United States.

You have written about the history of the Salinan people in contexts apart from your book. An intriguing subject that you address in one article about the tribe is the mysterious story of Salinan people being visited by foreigners well before the missions were established in California.  Could you tell us about this episode?

Englehardt refers to this on pages 6-8 in his book, Mission San Antonio de Padua:  Speaking of “barbarians”, Palou says, “among these was a woman named Aqueda (Agata), so old she must have been one hundred years of age.  She came to the fathers and asked for baptism.  When they asked why she wanted to be a Christian, she replied that when she was very young, she heard her parents tell of the coming of a man vested in the same habit that the missionaries wore.  This man had not entered the land on foot but came flying; and he told them the same that the missionaries were now preaching; remembering this she was moved to become a Christian.  Not putting any credit in what the old woman related, the priests sought information from the neophytes.  They all unanimously replied, that thus they had heard it said from their ancestors, and that this tradition was general and handed down from parents to children.  The fact that the Indians of San Antonio Mission district manifested such eagerness to learn more about Christianity, and their extraordinary willingness to help the missionaries in every way, lend a good deal of plausibility to the woman’s story.  In 1602, Carmelite fathers with Viscaino landed at Monterey.  The woman’s forefathers might have learned something from them”.

Most early California histories relate the above. I include it as part of my ancestor’s story in The Ancestors Speak.

Salinans are known for magnificent rock paintings. Could you tell us about this tradition? Do you remember your first visit to a rock painting site?  What were the circumstances, and what was your reaction to the paintings?

In 1954 I visited Painted Rock on the Carrizo Plains.  It was still quite colorful aside from the damage done by cattle corralled within it and the vandalizing of chunks by souvenir hunters and the overspray left by taggers.  What is left is now part of a national monument and protected.  The Salinan Painted Cave has been vandalized also.  Even though it is fenced, climbers rappel down its sides and chip away and overspray.  Hunter Liggett Military Reservation protects it.  I reproduce the art found there on my Salinan rattles and note cards.

The Salinan Tribe has put out a newsletter called T’epot’aha’l. Could you tell us what this term literally means?  And could you give us a sense of how it is pronounced?

“The People”              Tay poe  t  aha

California’s Salinas Valley takes its name from the Salinan people. The valley name is pronounced Sa-LI-nas.  But I hear Salinan people refer to themselves as Sa-li-NAN, placing the accent on the last syllable.  Is this pronunciation directly influenced by the Salinan language?

Salinas and Salinan are Spanish for salty (saline)  We have lost our original aboriginal title.  Today we are known as Salinans, “People of the oaks.’

Is there a push within the tribe to revive the Salinan language?

The primary push is recognition so we can establish a reliable financial source to acquire recordings, etc.

Apart from the Salinan cemetery, what do you consider the most important areas of Mission San Antonio de Padua to visit?

All of it.  It is a package of historical documentation.

If you could change one historical moment in the history of California, which would you choose?

That Gold be discovered anywhere except California.

If you could assure one historical outcome for the state in years ahead, what would it be?

Train children to appreciate California’s natural beauty and the valuable lessons its history teaches us.  We have nothing if we destroy our earthly home.  May we learn to value the simple, free things in life, walk softly and leave it better than we found it.

If there was one fact you could clear up about the mission era based on your many years of research, what would it be? What would you like others to know about the history of the Salinan Tribe that people neglect to acknowledge or seem never to ‘get right’?

I would like all to know that we are not extinct.  That the Salinan people were peaceable, gentle and generous has been attested to by many.  They were totally unprepared for European style invasion or combat, their culture did not include training in military tactics to invade and conquer other nations.  They were content to be who they were and to have their daily needs met. They valued each other and realized that survival depended on this.  They were bound together in a highly evolved web of economic and spiritual relationships, developed over thousands of years.  A priest observed that they lived by a simple code of treating others the way they wished to be treated. 

++++++++++

Thank you Suzanne Pierce Taylor for participating in our Trail Blog interview series.

Come meet Suzanne Pierce Taylor at Mission San Antonio de Padua on September 14, when she will join Salinan Tribal Council member and Elder Susan Latta in leading a tour of the mission’s cemetery.  Please check the Calendar page for details about this and other events at Mission San Antonio de Padua.

Jewel Gentry lunches at a recent conference about the history of the Camino Real

Jewel Gentry is a Senior in the Integrated Studies program at California State University Monterey Bay, where for his Special Major he’s chosen to focus on Archaeology under the direction of Professor Rubén Mendoza.  President of The Society Of Student Archaeologists at CSUMB, Jewel is interested in both the Native Californian and Filipino periods of contact with the Spanish.   He has recently been working on a project called Digital Preservation and Mapping of the California Missions.  We’re very happy that Jewel could find some time at this busy start of the new academic term to tell us what he finds most interesting about his work at Mission San Juan Bautista and beyond.

“Speechless” isn’t the word to describe the depth of wonder I felt as Dr. Mendoza explained to me that several of the California Missions were built to interact with the light of the rising sun.  Even after he showed me multiple images, there was a part of me that needed to see it in person and, finally, on a brisk December morning, I witnessed something amazing.

Sunlight on the morning of the midwinter solstice works its magic in numerous missions, including Mission San Miguel, pictured here

Dr. Mendoza invited me to stand watch at the front doors of the Old Mission in San Juan Bautista.  The church was filled with the sound of native drums coming from outside the mission walls and, inside, an admirer of the yearly spectacle provided ethereal singing.  I was to wait for Dr. Mendoza’s signal – when the time was just right – to swing open the front doors of the two-hundred-year-old church.

Some light started to come through the choir window from the front of the church.  Slowly, a clear rectangle of light traversed the tabernacle toward the altar.  When it was perfectly centered (an astonishing event in itself!) Dr. Mendoza gave the word, and I opened the mission’s church doors.  Immediately, light filled the church in a perfectly aligned beam that flooded the main aisle of the church nave and ignited the tabernacle in a brilliant glow. Since that morning, I have witnessed this phenomenon at Mission San Miguel and Mission San Carlos in Carmel.  And my Mission Studies research at California State University Monterey Bay has led to an incredible trail of discovery.

Shortly after witnessing my first Solstice events at the Old Mission

San Agustin Church in Manila, the Philippines

of San Juan Bautista, I started research on the churches of the Philippines.  My mother is from the Philippines, and I was well aware that the Spanish missionaries were established there before any missionaries arrived in California. With Dr. Mendoza’s help, I was able to identify Filipino churches that mirror the solar architectural alignments of those he had studied in California.  (I’m now making plans to visit the Philippine islands to confirm that Dr. Mendoza’s findings are a far-reaching phenomenon.)  Further into my research, I found that Filipino church architecture was made to conform to Church rules from the sixteenth century.  One of the main authors of these church construction edicts was none other than San Carlos Borromeo, the very saint for whom Father Junípero Serra dedicated the mission in Carmel!  My first thought was “This can’t be a coincidence.”  And it wasn’t.  More research led me to a manuscript by San Carlos mandating the alignment of the church to the rising sun!  This basically confirmed Dr. Mendoza’s conclusions that the church mandated these practices, which were then beautifully interpreted by the Franciscan padres and realized by California natives to be artfully presented to all.

John Warren of Mission San Miguel with Rubén Mendoza, Curator of Mission San Juan Bautista and Professor of Archaeology at CSUMB

The discovery of San Carlos Borromeo’s work also led me back to an earlier adventure at Mission San Miguel.  Dr. Mendoza and I had traveled there in hopes of witnessing a solar alignment.  But that morning, the mission was fogged in, so instead we were given a tour by the San Miguel Mission Curator, John Warren.  John showed us native “graffiti” in the church, which I noticed were low to the ground. I reasoned that native artisans were most likely sitting low to the ground as well, a connection that had not yet been made.  The San Carlos manuscript became important here as well because it helped to establish that the so-called “graffiti” were most likely the contributions of women and children!

You can start to see a pattern emerging with one find leading to

One of the musical scores from California's Mission Era on display at the Fray de la Cuesta Museum at Old Mission San Juan Bautista

another adventure.  On a whim inspired by discovery, I visited UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library.  There, I contacted Dr. Mendoza to see if there was anything he wanted me to research.  He requested I research images relating to Mission San Juan Bautista and anything having to do with Fray Arroyo De La Cuesta.  In a discussion with an archivist, I learned that the library had recently made mission material digitally available. That night I stayed up into the early morning reviewing digital archives, and preparing for a day of research at the Bancroft Library when I came across three separate manuscripts by Fray Arroyo De La Cuesta.  In each of these documents there were several transcriptions of mission era music.  This was obviously important, so before moving on to the next thing, I made copies of the transcriptions.

Yet another adventure for Jewel Gentry at the Monterey Diocese Archives: a special viewing of Fray Junipero Serra's signature on a document presented by Rev. Carl M.D. Faria

The next morning was also interesting as apparently I accidently broke into the Bancroft Library without knowing; but that’s another story.  The rest of the day was spent viewing historic artifacts and documents from the California Mission period that go as far back as 1776.  The Bancroft Library is amazing!

As luck would have it, a week or so after my trip to the Bancroft, Daniel and Armida Valdez, of the Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, called the mission to ask if Dr. Mendoza could assist them in their research for the upcoming production of the Cancion De San Juan: Oratorio of a Mission Town.  So we shared with them the Bancroft manuscripts.  Daniel Valdez found some of the pieces linguistically curious, and wondered if they were in Latin or in Mutsun, the Ohlone language of the region that now includes San Juan Bautista.  Dr. Mendoza confirmed that the lyrics were indeed in Mutsun.  Dr. David Shaul, a colleague of Dr. Mendoza and an expert in native languages, further confirmed that Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta transcriptions that include liturgical music for the natives of San Juan.

I’ve been told that Mr.Valdez has been studying these transcriptions and has actually preformed the music from them. This is remarkable because the music found in these manuscripts has most likely not been played or heard in the region for close to 200 years.  A majority of music transcribed by Fray Arroyo De La Cuesta is secular, an astounding fact, for one because it suggests that Father De La Cuesta’s work is ethnographic in nature, making him one of the first anthropologists in California.  These native songs that the Old Mission padre witnessed, participated in, and transcribed, according to a source from Dr. Shaul, are songs about life: they tell of games and dances.  I think it is fitting that in some way the story of the mission and the community of San Juan will be represented again in song with the oratorio conceived by Daniel Valdez.

A few members of The Society of Student Archaeologists at CSUMB pause work at one of their sites to pose for a photo: Sara Dalton, Paul Jensen, Jennifer Lucido, Jewel Gentry

I also feel fortunate to have chosen a field of study and a profession that honors the past and attempts to get it right. I’ve been lucky to be on mission adventures from San Francisco to San Diego studying the history and archaeology of the region. It is truly amazing how discovery leads to adventure and ultimately to history.  As a student of archaeology, when I tell friends what I’m studying, they ask if I’m going to Egypt or some far off place.  And although I’m not opposed to the idea of traveling to some remote corner of the world, I really don’t have to because we Californians have “pyramids” in our own backyard!

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Thank you Jewel Gentry for accepting our invitation to describe your work as a student of archaeology at some of the missions of Northern California.

Join us in San Juan Bautista on September 4, 2012, for a special performance of Canción de San Juan: Oratorio of a Mission Town at 8 p.m. at El Teatro Campesino.  Please call the theater for ticket information.  Click here for a link to the theater.

To meet Jewel Gentry in person please join us for events at Mission San Juan Bautista on September 5, 2012.  Check our Calendar page for latest news about the many activities planned for the day there.

http://www.ksbw.com/Horse-riders-making-600-mile-journey/-/1824/16528646/-/xbwi5dz/-/index.html

“Seven riders are about to set off on a horseback odyssey connecting California’s 21 Spanish and Native American missions…” — Horsetalk New Zealand:

http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/08/11/seven-prepare-california-mission-ride/#.UCZvAVKB1XN

“…Sonoma has the honor of being the starting point for a unique and historic adventure…” – Sonoma Press Democrat:

http://sonoma.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2012/08/news/mission-to-mission-horseback-ride-departs-from-sonoma/

“The event Wednesday honored a group of horseback riders that stopped in San Rafael as part of the 600-mile California Mission Ride…” – Marin Independent Journal:

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_21378249

“They have been christened ‘The Mission Riders’ by nearly everyone who crosses their path, yet theirs is no religious pilgrimage…” – Santa Cruz Sentinel:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/sports/ci_21487959/julie-jag-out-there-horseback-riders-spanish-mission

“The journey is reminiscent of days before the luxuries of modern travel…” – The Salinas Californian:

http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20120908/NEWS01/309080023/California-Mission-Riders-stop-Carmel-collect-tales-tall-small

“While California is planning a costly high-speed train system from San Francisco to Anaheim, seven riders are about to mount their horses and head for the border…” — SFWeekly  (also published on ExhibitionistSF):

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/07/california_mission_ride_high_speed_rail.php

“Setting out on horseback, just like the days of the Wild West…” – Sonoma Index-Tribune:

http://www.sonomanews.com/News-2012/Mission-ride-starts-in-Sonoma-Sunday/

“Born To Ride: Local TV director leads 600-mile horseback mission…” – Good Times Weekly:

http://www.gtweekly.com/index.php/santa-cruz-arts-entertainment-lifestyles/santa-cruz-arts-entertainment-/4123-born-to-ride.html

“Get ready Sonoma. Mark your calendars and save the date, because on August 18, there is going to be a great event…” — Sonoma Valley Sun, Turning Stones Column:

http://turningstones.sonomaportal.com/2012/08/09/the-california-mission-ride/

“The California Mission Ride is a 600-mile horseback journey through California – stopping at each of California’s 21 Missions, with fantastic community and cultural events scheduled at each stop…” — Sonoma Uncorked.com:

http://www.sonomauncorked.com/wine-country-events/nature-events/california-mission-ride/

“Is a horseback journey from California mission to mission still possible today…?” – live interview with Randol White’s on Eat, Drink, Explore!

http://eatdrinkexplore.com/index.php/compass-hour/explore/930-a-horseback-journey-through-history

“Horseback Ride From Mission to Mission…” – Inside Sonoma:

http://inside-sonoma.com/green-travel/

“Setting out on horseback, just like the days of the Wild West…” – Sonoma Index-Tribune:

http://www.sonomanews.com/News-2012/Mission-ride-starts-in-Sonoma-Sunday/

“While California is planning a costly high-speed train system from San Francisco to Anaheim, seven riders are about to mount their horses and head for the border…” — SFWeekly (also published on ExhibitionistSF):

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/07/california_mission_ride_high_speed_rail.php

“Horseback Ride From Mission to Mission…” – Inside Sonoma:

http://inside-sonoma.com/green-travel/

“Film crew on a mission…” – San Jose Mercury News & Santa Cruz Sentinel:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_21438101/film-crew-mission-santa-cruz-resident-director-halfway

“The California Mission Ride is a 600-mile horseback journey through California – stopping at each of California’s 21 Missions, with fantastic community and cultural events scheduled at each stop…” —  Sonoma Uncorked.com:

http://www.sonomauncorked.com/wine-country-events/nature-events/california-mission-ride/

Interviews and articles will be added to the Trail Blog soon.

Michael Muir

MICHAEL MUIR, born in 1952, is the great-grandson of conservationist, philosopher, and Sierra Club Founder John Muir.  At age 15, Michael learned he had Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, a disease that causes degeneration of the nervous system.  Instead of being defeated by the diagnosis, he was emboldened to set out on new adventures, and to help people of limited mobility to explore new terrain, both out in nature and within themselves.  At the center of Michael’s extraordinary story is the horse.  Or rather, horses. Lots of them.

Horses have played a starring role in your life.  Did your love for them begin with one horse in particular?

The day I was born (March 18, 1952) my family had already acquired a famously cantankerous Shetland/Thoroughbred cross pony that I grew up with.  We also went on annual pack trips in the High Sierras with horses and mules.  I was particularly taken with an Appaloosa named “Dan.”

You were diagnosed with MS at age 15.  How were you involved with horses until then?

In 1965 at the age of 13, I acquired the first horses of my own.  I sold sheep from my 4-H project and bought a pregnant Appaloosa mare with a filly by her side.  My second mare was also in foal with a filly at foot.  My breeding career was already in full swing during high school.

Michael Muir with Apollo

As a competitive horseman, and still a teenager, it must have been hard to bear such medical news.  Do you remember how you reacted when you first learned you would be living with MS?

My mother is known as Cleopatra (the Queen of Denial) so the downside of my medical future was not discussed.  I, too, have an optimistic nature. My initial diagnosis was “spinal myelitis,” or as one doctor later put it “singular sclerosis, it’s not multiple until it happens again.”  My treatment was the standard for MS at that time.  I relied on one particular nurse to give me accurate information about what was going on with my body, and what the future might hold. Despite being profoundly affected by my first bout with MS, I always assumed I would get better.  I was highly motivated to get out of the hospital and back to my stable.

Relapsing/Remitting MS does just that.  I was paralyzed below the neck at first and slowly recovered over the course of about six months.  It was many years before I was so strongly affected by MS again.  There were subtler forms of weakness, fatigue and depression in play over the course of my life.  I am no longer relapsing/remitting and my current diagnosis is secondary progressive MS.  I continue to maintain a good quality of life.

Horses have been a powerful force for good.  My life is richer having them in it. 

To stay with this moment for one more question, what would you tell a young person diagnosed with a degenerative disease today?  What was the most vital idea to hold onto as you took in your diagnosis, or what most helped you realize that your life was still there to be fully embraced?

I have said before that the worst disability is a bad attitude.  I have shocked people by saying there are advantages to having MS.  From a young age I have not deferred my dreams.  I didn’t wait to retire to pursue my passion for horses.  I found my life’s work as a teenager.  I was never conservative about any opportunity that came my way, eventually traveling all over the world with my horses, enjoying lots of grand adventures.

I would tell a young person to always focus on what is possible and not on what has been lost.  Life isn’t always fair.  Some bad things we cannot change.  But each of us has an opportunity to pursue, study and engage in things that are interesting to us.  Our lives don’t always turn out the way we imagined but there are different paths that lead to where you want to go.

After you learned you had MS, you continued to lead a staggeringly active life as a competitive horseman and even as a breeder of champion racehorses.  Could you tell us about some highlights of your early career?  Does any racing record or event stand out as one you’ve most savored?

I went to the University of California at Davis thinking I might become a veterinarian.  I realized I was already doing what I wanted to do with horses.  I didn’t want to work with sick or injured horses.  I wanted to breed and compete with them.  I took a “leave of absence” (still on it!) to work with a young trainer in Santa Rosa.  I had already traveled to Texas (skipping school) to breed my best mare.  We showed the mare to an undefeated season and sold her foal for a world-record auction price.  This success fueled my confidence and helped finance my foray into racehorses. 

My first great stallion, Apache Double, won 18 races in 21 starts and set 14 track and world records.  I bought him from Iola Hatley and later he was syndicated for stallion duty.  Apache Double became the first Appaloosa stallion to sire the winners of a million dollars.  He became the first multi-million dollar sire and led the list of leading stallions for many years.  Apache Double appears in the pedigree of many of my Stonewall Sporthorses today.

At the National Appaloosa Show in Australia in 1980 (with 2,400 entries it was the largest horse show of any kind in the Southern Hemisphere) my horses won Grand Champion Senior Stallion, Grand Champion Junior Stallion, Grand Champion Senior Mare, and Champion Mare and Foal.  We really cleaned up!

When Multiple Sclerosis began to take a serious toll on your ability to ride, you turned to driving horses instead. What

Michael Muir driving horses in competition

inspired you to consider driving as an alternative to riding? Was there already a movement afoot in the U.S. to encourage disabled equestrians to pursue driving?

It is just my nature that when one door closes in my life I look for another to open.  It didn’t seem like a tragedy to me that I hung up my saddle.  Driving is very challenging, exciting and fun.  I was introduced to an organization promoting driving for people with disabilities and went for it.  The organization was United States Driving for the Disabled, Inc. (And, after 17 years out of the saddle, an Access Adventure volunteer therapist, Tineke Jacobsen got me riding again).

Michael competing in a combined driving event

Did you find yourself involved in a whole new horse world as driving became more important to you?  Does driving require special kinds of horses?  Is there a different ‘horse culture’ around driving as opposed to riding?

Combined driving is a very exciting facet of horsemanship.  It is the driving equivalent of the Olympic Sport of Three-Day Eventing.  The sport is huge in Europe and America’s East Coast.  Interest is rapidly growing out West.  I spent a year training in Southern Pines, North Carolina, the heart of the driving world in the United States.

Most kinds of horses can be driven, from ponies to drafts.  My personal preference is driving Warmbloods, especially my homegrown Stonewall Sporthorses.

There are more older and disabled folks involved with driving versus riding.  There are some great competitors in Europe well into their eighties.  When I won a bronze medal for pair driving in Great Britain I received the award from Prince Phillip.  He is still an avid driver, well into his eighties.

Named 4 times to Team USA, you have earned driving medals and championships in Austria, France, Germany, and Great Britain.  As a world-class horse driver, could you describe what it feels like to drive rather than ride horses?  And what about numbers of horses: is driving eight horses anything like driving one or two?

A driver develops a unique and more tenuous connection to his horse or horses than a rider.  We only have our voice, our hands and the touch of a whip to communicate.  There is an element of magic in successfully driving teams of horses.  It takes a great deal of careful preparation to do it well.  And yes, it is much more difficult to drive eight horses than one or two.

Since we have some Hollywood folks on our team of riders, I can’t help taking advantage of this rare opportunity to ask a champion horse driver: Charlton Heston’s chariot-driving scenes in the epic 1959 film, Ben-Hur.  Convincing?

I don’t think he did any of the stunt driving, and I think a number of horses were hurt in the making of that film.  Driving can be very dangerous, especially at speed.

A moment on the Journey Across America

In 2001, you and other equestrians with disabilities completed the remarkable 3,000-mile Horsedrawn Journey Across America.  You drove wheelchair-supporting carriages from Mission San Diego de Alcalá clear over to Washington D.C.  Why did you begin the journey at the mission in San Diego?  How long did the expedition take and, briefly, what was your route?

We started the Horsedrawn Journey Across America at the Mission San Diego where my ancestors arrived in California in 1849.  These included my great-great-grandparents and their two year old daughter who grew up to marry John Muir.  We followed in reverse the migration of my family that arrived from Scotland to the Colony of Virginia in 1732.  They traveled Westward over the generations to arrive in California.  We followed the old Butterfield Trail and the Southern Overland Trail first scouted by Captain Fremont.  My great-great-great-grandfather and his bride were married by the Justice of the Peace, Davey Crockett and traveled with him from Tennessee to Texas and founded the town of Honey Grove.  Relatives still live there today.  We used old family letters and diaries to map our route across the country.  Our trip took over nine months to complete.  

More about this stunning transcontinental accomplishment of 2001.  Could you tell us about one or two incidents on the trail that have stayed with you?

We made camp one night in a remote part of the Sonoran Desert, going to sleep to the serenade of coyotes ringing the rim-rock canyon.  In the morning we discovered a very old, weathered, wooden sign with “Butterfield Trail” still legible.  We were on the route walked by my great-great-grandmother with a two-year-old toddler and a one-year-old babe in arms.  We felt a powerful connection to history that day.

The group reaches Washington D.C.

Was the 2001 journey a life-changing experience?  How did you feel when you reached Washington D.C. with your fellow travelers?

The Horsedrawn Journey Across America was intended to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  My international crew and I were so profoundly moved and changed by this experience that we didn’t want it to end.  We made plans to travel across Northern Europe.  In 2002, we performed at an international competition in France, then traveled through Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany for the World Carriage Driving Championship for Drivers with Disabilities.  Our team was proving by example that disability does not mean inability.

Michael working with Domino

Michael Muir and Cindy Goff on their journey with Domino

I read in a bio about you that, in 2003, you and  ”Cindy Goff, a paraplegic horsewoman from Kentucky, drove a carriage, powered by Michael’s horse Domino, from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico along the same route John Muir traveled in 1867.”  Did you sense a special connection to your great-grandfather, John Muir, as you and Cindy Goff made this trip?  Did you gain any surprising insights into him while following his footsteps in your carriage?

We used the diary of John Muir’s first great wilderness adventure, “The Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf” to map our route.  Following my great-grandfather’s footsteps and reading about his experiences along the way created a special bond of kinship.  We often felt close to him as we enjoyed our own adventure.

In 2005, after retiring as the President of United States Driving for the Disabled Inc., you founded Access Adventure, a non-profit devoted to helping people of limited mobility to challenge themselves and to discover wild, open spaces in ways they never imagined possible.  Horses remained central in this new endeavor.  Could you tell us a bit about Access Adventure?

Access Adventure is designed to be a regional model of services for people with disabilities.  Our mission is to enrich their lives and those of other underserved members of our community by providing outdoor recreation, open space access, education and therapy through a working partnership with horses.

Access Adventure operates on the Solano Land Trust’s Rush Ranch, near Suisun City and Fairfield, California.  What is the atmosphere like on the ranch?  When someone of limited mobility first arrives there without any prior experience of horses, can the situation seem intimidating?

The Rush Ranch is 2070 acres of preserved open space, never to be developed.  It is a historic horse farm, originally more than 5,000 acres, that retains a great deal of the original atmosphere.  We are off the grid, generating our own power with solar and wind.  Despite the rustic feel of the place, we are well equipped to meet the special needs of people with disabilities.  It’s a welcoming place.

What do new visitors to the Access Adventure ranch generally most enjoy about their first contact with horses?

Our horses are remarkably gentle and seem to be intuitive about the special needs of people with disabilities.  It is empowering to partner with them to increase our mobility and enjoy the natural world. 

Access Adventure assures that wilderness areas remain accessible to those of limited mobility

As the Founding Director of Access Adventure for some years now, would you share with us a story of how horseback or horse-drawn adventure has changed the life of a young person living with limited mobility?

We often meet people profoundly struggling with the shattering experiences of a crippling injury or a devastating diagnosis of disease that will alter the course of their life.  We teach them not to think about what they have lost, but what is possible to do with what you have left.  It doesn’t have to be a tragedy because you cannot walk anymore.  We will teach you how to roll with abandon.  Life can still be full and rich.

A beautiful young woman who was a show jumper of considerable ability came to us after a catastrophic swimming accident that left her quadriplegic.  She wanted to ride again.  We gently guided her away from getting back in the saddle, and instead to learn to drive horses.  She has never looked back and is now a leading contender for the next World Carriage Driving Championship.

A young man with a traumatic brain injury has rebuilt his life with the reins in his hands.  He has learned to speak the names of the horses he drives, and revels in the power in his hands as he trots through the countryside.  He especially enjoys taking other people with disabilities along on his adventures.  His mission is “to heal the world”.  Link to raising Mario twice.

Reba and Ruby powering a wheelchair-accessible carriage

Horses are increasingly recognized for their ability to help people heal or move ahead with their lives.  “Hippotherapy” has given a leg up to troubled teens, addicts, and battered or abused people, as well as those suffering from trauma, anxiety, depression, and more.  With all of your work in this area, and with your lifelong experience of horses, how do you explain the profound therapeutic effects of horses on humans?

I have always believed that there is an element of magic in the art of driving horses.  There is no other way to explain our tenuous control over these immensely powerful animals.  Horses seem to have a special affinity for people with disabilities.  We are empowered by the bond created between us.  When you cannot walk, and horses help you to experience the world, this remarkable partnership enriches people’s lives.

What do you personally find most rewarding about your work with

The magic of contact with horses at Rush Ranch

horses and people?

I am lucky in that I have found a way to take my passion for horses and find a way to do some good with that.  Breeding and competing with horses can be a selfish, ego-driven business.  We have found a way to give something back to a community of people in need.

Access Adventure is partly funded by the sale of Stonewall Sporthorses, beautiful warmbloods that you have bred for many years.  How did you develop this breed, and what makes the Stonewall Sporthorse unique?

The Stonewall Sporthorse descends through the generations from some of my original horses.  Over the course of my disability, my life with horses has evolved from being a rider to a driver to sharing my world with other people with disabilities.  The evolution of my horses reflects the special requirements of a good, reliable, powerful carriage horse.  The unique spotted hides that are our trademark are a gift from my original mare.

You and others from Access Adventure will be joining The California Mission Ride team in Sonoma. What do you most look forward to on the mission ride?

As a native Californian, I enjoy the living history of the California missions.  My family has a connection with the Mission San Diego de Alcala dating back to 1849.  I always enjoy any opportunity to go back “on the road” (horsedrawn).

Do you have a favorite food for dinner when you’re on the trail?

I am an old-school horseman.  The needs of the animals always come first.  My crew will tell you that I am pretty slack about meeting the food requirements of the human members of the team.  We appreciate anything good to eat when we are on the road.  Fortunately, our unusual experiences win us a few invitations to dinner.

One of many memorable trips to Mission San Antonio de Padua

As a Californian who’s logged many a day of horse travel, including

Michael Muir and fellow travelers exploring the wilderness around Mission San Antonio de Padua

at the mission in San Diego and Mission San Antonio de Padua, what would you say about the time you’ve spent with horses in and around the state’s missions?  What seems different about visiting the missions with horses as opposed to, say, reaching them by motorized vehicle?

I especially enjoy the historic setting of the Mission San Antonio, very little changed from the time that it was built. Traveling there with horses reminds us that the missions were built a day’s journey (horsedrawn or ridden) apart.

Among the 21 missions of California, do you have a favorite? 

My favorite is the Mission San Antonio de Padua.  We try to visit there every spring for the most beautiful wildflower show in all of California.

The life and writings of your great-grandfather John Muir have had an immeasurable influence on the American

Michael Muir taking a cold water dip

landscape, and even on the way people view the natural world.  How would you describe his influence on your own experience of nature?

John Muir was raised by a dour and incredibly strict Scottish father.  My great-grandfather raised his own children with a much gentler hand.  His influence is felt through the generations of my family.  We were never discouraged from finding our own way in the world, however far off the beaten path that may take us.  He instilled in his family a great love of the natural world that carries on through the generations today.

If you could share John Muir’s company on a horse-drawn journey today, where would you most love to travel with him?  Would it be to a place he knew well?

It would be a grand adventure to share his great love of Alaska (preferably not when it is snowing!)

Michael Muir, looking forward to sharing his horsedrawn adventures with others, and to enjoying every aspect of life

Could you tell us about some of your exciting horse-drawn travel plans for the future? 

As I get older, my greatest joy is sharing my horsedrawn adventures with people who are struggling with mobility challenges.  It doesn’t matter so much where we go, so long as we are going somewhere.  We intend to enjoy every aspect of life, with the help of our working partners, the horses we love.

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This interview was completed by August 18, 2012, and is being posted at the earliest opportunity on the trail… August 22 in San Rafael, where The California Mission Ride Team is camping on the grounds of the beautiful Elks Lodge.  Thank you Michael Muir for your prized participation in our Trail Blog interview series about people we’ll meet on the trail in 2012.

Michael Muir and equestrians from Access Adventure joined The California Mission Ride from its starting point in Sonoma on September 18.  Visit the California Mission Ride on Facebook for pictures and updates! http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-California-Mission-Ride/316668341721378  

For a wonderful, short video presentation of Michael Muir’s work with Access Adventure, click here [link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTX3Kk1ltk4].  The video is introduced as follows: “When John Muir first arrived in California by ship, he was bewildered and overwhelmed by the raucous energy of San Francisco in 1869. He asked a passerby the quickest way out of the city. “Well, where do you want to go?” the stranger inquired. “Anywhere Wild!, said Muir. John Muir’s great-grandson, Michael Muir, is blazing a new trail into the wilderness, opening a path to be traveled by people with disabilities. Michael has lived with MS since he was fifteen, and understands the challenges people face.”