Methods

Santa Clara University’s campus has a deep history because it is a California mission site. In selecting an artifact to drive our research, we wanted to represent an aspect of SCU’s past that was not widely recognized. We strolled through the campus, looking for inspiration, and we eventually stumbled upon what appeared to be an unmarked grinding stone. At first, we were confused as to its presence, but came to the conclusion that it had to be there for a reason — that it represented some untold part of Mission Santa Clara’s past.

What followed was a lengthy, semi-unrewarding deep-dive into literature focusing on Mission Santa Clara, Native Americans at the mission, and the multiple uses of stones. We also explored various historical documents such as Santa Clara newspapers,Mission records, old photos, and firsthand accounts. Using these sources as guides, we ultimately discovered that this mysterious stone artifact was a tajona: a mission-era millstone used to grind corn into a fine powder. 

Throughout this website, we include images from the SCU Archives and Collections, as well as our own photos. We used the Archives digitized data set to sift through documents spanning the mission period to the mid- to late-1900s. In large part, there were very few written descriptions of the tajona, and even fewer photographs. To supplement this, we took our own pictures using an iPhone. Additionally, we used the ‘measure’ feature of the iPhoneX to collect and record the dimensions of multiple features of the tajona. We also took measurements using a measuring tape and found that, while the two had between one- and two-inch differences, they were largely the same. The minor inconsistencies were likely due to the fact that it was difficult to like up the iPhone and measuring tape in the exact same spots.