An Upturned Cemetery

From The Santa Cruz Daily Surf Sept. 26,1885 "In digging the trenches for the foundation of the new Catholic Church on Mission Hill, a large number of bodies were unearthed.The bones of many were in a excellent state of preservation.Coffins were found in several instances buried one above the other, the upper one being not more than 1 and a half or two feet below the surface. One of the skulls was about three-eighths of a inch in thickness. In the end of one of the trenches a large pile of bones was found,as though a great many bodies had been buried a t the same time. The results of further excavations will be watched with interest."
Remember not just Indians and Spaniards were buried here.Many of the American pioneer family's of the area were laid to rest in this cemetery as well.California had only been a state 35 years but these people were already forgotten and in the way.One has to wonder at the lack of over site by the church in this matter.They seem curiously absent,other than the mention previously of the Father calling for removal of family at the Sunday service, no mention in any of the articles I have read about the church overseeing or involved in the relocation of the people who first celebrated the Catholic faith here.I have one more article to share about this that says volumes about what happened here.