Portrait of Jose de Gracia Cruz, a San Juan Capistrano Mission Indian bell ringer, ca. June 1909

Photographic portrait of a San Juan Capistrano Mission Indian bell ringer, ca. June 1909. The man is standing at center and is looking at the camera. He is wearing a dark suit and a light shirt and hat. He has a thick white beard and his hands are in his pockets. There is a wooden picket fence directly behind him with a single stone support post. Beyond the fence is an adobe building, and several trees are visible as well. This is the man on whom the character of Acu the bell ringer was based, from the book Capistrano Nights by Charles Francis Saunders (?). Picture file card reads "Character of his grace O'Sullivan".